Mumbai: The combined water stock in the seven lakes catering to Mumbai dropped below 10% on Thursday. Civic officials said an additional 10% cut may be imposed in the first week of July, if rainfall doesn’t pick pace in the last week of June and reservoir levels fail to improve.With the BMC already imposing a 10% water cut and dipping into additional reserve water permitted from state-owned sources, the current stock in the seven lakes — nearly 1.4 lakh million litres or 9.7% of the total storage capacity — should suffice till August 20, said additional municipal commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar, as corporators across party lines sought clarity on the BMC’s preparedness to tackle the plummeting water levels and the contingency measures being planned if lake levels fail to improve.However, Bangar cautioned that the situation remains serious. “The impact of El Niño could lead to higher temperatures in October and November, increasing evaporation losses from lakes. A similar situation was witnessed in 2009, when water cuts had to continue for almost the entire year. This year too, the situation is grave, though significant rainfall is expected in July,” he said.The government has instructed the BMC to prepare a detailed roadmap covering water availability, distribution, conservation measures, and emergency management upto August 2027, said officials.
