BMC Announces 15 Percent Water Cut in Mumbai for Panjrapur Work

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced a 15 per cent water cut across parts of the city area, eastern suburbs, and western suburbs of Mumbai on Tuesday, July 28, and Wednesday, July 29. The disruption is due to scheduled infrastructure work at the Panjrapur pumping station.

According to the civic administration, the BMC will replace the existing 6.6 KV High Pressure Control Panels at the Panjrapur facility. As a direct consequence of this work, the water supply from the Panjrapur pumping station to the Bhandup Water Treatment Plant will remain suspended for a 20-hour duration, starting from 9 am on Tuesday, July 28, until 5 am on Wednesday, July 29.

This temporary supply reduction comes even as overall water storage levels in the city have seen significant improvement. On Monday, July 27, the combined water stock in the seven reservoirs that supply drinking water to Mumbai reached 88.40 per cent of total capacity. This figure is just 1 per cent lower than the water stock recorded on the exact same date last year.

Although the arrival of the monsoon was delayed this year, above-normal rainfall throughout July has helped compensate for the initial deficit. So far, four of the seven supplying lakes—Vihar, Tulsi, Tansa, and Modak Sagar—have reached their full capacity and overflowed.

Despite these rising levels, the BMC stated that a decision on reversing the ongoing 10 per cent water cut will only be taken after all seven lakes reach full capacity and overflow.

In terms of rainfall statistics, the region has been witnessing moderate to heavy rainfall over the past week. The Santacruz weather observatory has recorded a cumulative rainfall total of 1,895.9 mm so far, which represents 81.76 per cent of Mumbai's average annual rainfall. Moderate rainfall is forecasted to continue across Mumbai and its metropolitan region throughout the remainder of the week.