Where are the rains?

Rains have all but disappeared from Maharashtra, especially Mumbai. After the literal deluge in July, August till now has been more dry than wet. And the water reservoirs have started looking parched.

The water department is really worried as the catchment areas have not received enough rainfall and that means water stock for the city might soon be depleting. As per the department, Mumbai has received 20% less rain than what it did last year and that’s a huge number to fill up. Currently the city has a water cut on Wednesday but the department has warned that unless the citizens start using water judiciously, Mumbai could soon see a water shortage.

Bhatsa and Barve dam, the water suppliers of the city did not get rain in August. Bhatsa is only 63% full of its total capacity of 942.1 million cubic meters (MCM) and Barve dam with a total capacity of 180.03 MCM has received only 51%. Mumbai city has 18 lakh residents and the water need is at 470 million liters per day. So while the population has increased, water supply remains same. The same story in all aspects of supply – be it power, roads or any infrastructure.