Mumbai, June 21: With only 10 days remaining in June, the much-anticipated rains have still not reached the city, which is concerning because the total water supplies in the seven lakes that supply Mumbai were only 7.7% of the entire quantity needed, discounting the reserve stock given by the state government.

The BMC has issued a warning that a water reduction would be put into effect by July if rains are severely delayed. Mumbai Water Shortage: City To Face Water Cut? Only 19.5% Water Left In Dams, BMC Writes Letter To Maharashtra Government For Additional Supply.

Rainfall has always been abundant in Mumbai. However, people shouldn't take nature's abundance for granted. In the past, there have been a few dry monsoons, yet the city survived. The lakes need to be filled to a capacity of 14.47 lakh million litres in order for Mumbai to go without water for an entire year.

The overall water reserves were 1.59 million million litres (13.9%) as of Tuesday, and without the reserve stock, they were 1.11 million litres (7.7%). Total water stocks were 10.5% on June 20, 2022, compared to 14.16% on the same day in 2021.

According to reports, 1% of the supply is enough to meet the city's water needs for three days. Therefore, the quantity now available should be adequate for about 42 days.

Rains Expected on June 23 in Mumbai: IMD

A decision on whether to implement a water cut will be made by the end of the month, according to BMC, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that conditions are becoming favourable for the onset of monsoon over the city by the weekend.

Meanwhile, Mumbai has experienced water shortages before owing to either a delayed monsoon or rainfall that started off strongly but tapered off in the latter months and did not fill the lakes. When there was no significant rainfall in June or July of 2020, the BMC mandated a 20% water reduction. When the seven lakes had only filled up to 10.95 lakh million litres (75.7% of the entire amount), Mumbai residents had to deal with a 10% water reduction from November 2018 to July 2019. Mumbai Water Cut News Update: BMC Announces 10% Cut in Water Supply for Two Days Due to Pipeline Repair Work; Check Dates, Timings and List of Affected Areas.

The lakes in the catchment region saw considerable rainfall in June and July of 2018, but not in August or September.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 21, 2023 09:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).