Mumbai has been lashed by extremely heavy rainfall over the past few days, bringing the city to a near standstill while simultaneously boosting water levels in its reservoirs. On Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) opened all 38 gates of the Tansa dam after water crossed the danger mark. The reservoir, with a storage capacity of 145,080 million litres, had reached full capacity.
According to BMC data, the cumulative water stock in the city’s seven lakes supplying drinking water rose sharply to 95.12 per cent by Wednesday afternoon, up from 92.42 per cent recorded a day earlier. Officials monitoring the situation said heavy rainfall in catchment areas over the past 24 hours had accelerated inflows, prompting the controlled release to maintain dam safety and regulate downstream flow.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for Mumbai and its suburbs, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places. The morning forecast also predicted occasional gusty winds reaching 45–55 kmph.
Apart from Tansa, other reservoirs supplying Mumbai have also witnessed a surge in water levels. As of August 20, the collective stock across all reservoirs stood at 1,319,640 million litres, or 95.12 per cent of total capacity.
Modak Sagar is already at 100 per cent, Middle Vaitarna is at 98.69 per cent, Upper Vaitarna at 91.51 per cent, Bhatsa at 93.19 per cent, while both Vihar and Tulsi are also at 100 per cent.
The BMC supplies Mumbai’s daily drinking water from Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Middle Vaitarna, Bhatsa, Vihar, and Tulsi lakes. With multiple reservoirs nearing full capacity, the civic body continues to closely monitor inflows to ensure safety and maintain adequate supply.
