It is raining, and more importantly, it is raining in catchment areas. The lake levels are going up steadily. All this is good news.
But, the bad news is that the administration will not risk withdrawing the 15% water cut, imposed across the city last year, till July 15. The civic authorities are expecting that by then, around 8 lakh million litres of water would have accumulated in the reservoirs.
Water levels in the six lakes supplying to the city have gone up. Together they currently hold almost 1 lakh million litres — about
2,500 million litres of it accumulated in the past 24 hours.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Swadhin Kshatriya said it was risky to lift the water cut now. “The water situation is good enough, but the administration can not take any risk until the lakes have about 8 lakh million litres of water,” he said.
“The city needs 13 lakh million litres every year. By the end of June, or in mid-July, if it continues to pour this way, the administration might consider withdrawing the cut,” additional municipal commissioner Anil Diggikar said.
An official from the disaster management cell of the BMC said, “Heavy rains lashed Mumbai on Wednesday, leading to waterlogging in many low-lying areas. Traffic had to be diverted in some places, but the crisis did not last long. Areas like central Mumbai’s Byculla, Parel, Mahalaxmi, Mazgaon and Pydhonie got waterlogged early in the morning.”
Ghatkopar and Bandra witnessed wall collapse mishaps. A teenaged boy was injured when a rock fell on a hutment at Jankalyan Nagar, Vikhroli Parksite. It happened around 2am, and the victim’s name was Samson Rodrigues.
The BMC is trying its best to ensure that water drains away fast from city roads, in case it rains heavily during high tides in daytime and night. The island city received an average of 16.51 mm rainfall. The eastern suburbs received 20.27 mm, and the western 19.90 mm up to 4.30 pm on Wednesday.
