The Vihar lake, one of the seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai, began overflowing on Monday after constant heavy rains in the city, the civic officials said.
“The Vihar lake began to overflow at 2:45 pm on Monday,” the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Water Engineering Department said.
This makes six out of seven lakes that have now reached full capacity and started overflowing during this year’s monsoon, the officials said, adding that the steady and heavy rainfall in the catchment areas over the past few days has significantly increased the water levels in the reservoirs.
The maximum storage capacity of Vihar Lake is 2,769.8 crore litres (27,698 million litres). For comparison, the lake had overflowed on 25 July in 2024, 26 July in 2023, 11 August in 2022, and 18 July in 2021.
As of 6 am on Monday, the total water stock across all seven lakes stands at 1,31,964 crore litres (1,31,964 million litres), which is 91.18 per cent of their combined total storage capacity of 1,44,736.3 crore litres (14,47,363 million litres).
Earlier, on Saturday, the Tulsi lake had began overflowing after heavy rains lashed parts of Mumbai and its adjoining areas.
Tulsi lake, located in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, is one of the seven major water reservoirs that supply drinking water to the city. It is situated close to the Bhandup Water Purification Complex.
The BMC supplies drinking water daily from Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Middle Vaitarna, Bhatsa, Vihar, and Tulsi lake.
Tulsi lake`s maximum storage capacity is 804.60 crore litres (8,046 million litres) and it has a crucial role in the city’s water supply system.
Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra has been recently witnessing heavy downpour.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has advised citizens to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.
Meanwhile,
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said Mumbai received 177 millimetres (mm) of rain in a 6-8 hour period on Monday and asked citizens to observe all precautions since more is expected through the day along with high tides.
Talking to reporters in Mumbai after reviewing the rain and flood situation across Maharashtra, CM Fadnavis said that waterlogging is being witnessed in 14 places in the metropolis.
CM has appealed to residents to exercise caution and avoid stepping out unnecessarily.
