Mumbai Rains: Middle Vaitarna Reservoir Swells To 90% Capacity, Dam Gates Partially Opened

Water level in Middle Vaitarna lake increased to 90% of its total storage capacity on Monday, following rainfall in Mumbai in the last few days. The reservoir, which is a major source of water for Mumbai, contained 1,68,801 million litres of water, as per the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data.

Middle Vaitarna is among the seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai. The other major lakes are Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Tansa, Modak Sagar, Vehar and Tulsi.

The major lakes, supplying water to Mumbai, are witnessing a consistent rise in water levels in the last few days due to the Monsoon rains in Mumbai and neighbouring districts.

In a post on X, the BMC said, "The full storage level of the Hinduhridaysamrat Shiv Sena Pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray Middle Vaitarna Reservoir is 285 metres and the water level has reached 282.13 metres today."

Due to continuous heavy rain, three gates of the dam: gate no. 1, gate no. 3 and gate no. 5 were opened by 30 centimetres at 1:15 p.m. Monday to manage the water flow. 

"Water is now being released at a rate of 3,000 cusecs (cubic foot per second). The released water is being stored in the Modak Sagar (Lower Vaitarna) Reservoir," the civic body noted.

Earlier today, the BMC shared the data for all seven water bodies, reporting their water capacity above 50% in all lakes except Tulsi (45%) and Vehar (47%). Modak Sagar’s capacity stood at 87.03% at 1,12,206 million litres, the data till 6 a.m. showed.

Together, these seven lakes can hold 14,47,363 million litres of usable water. On Monday, their combined capacity stood at nearly 68% or 9,82,413 million litres.

Last year, some of the lakes including Modak Sagar had started overflowing towards the end of July. However, the early onset of monsoon this year has led to an earlier rise in water levels.

As the city gets more rainfall, the lake levels are expected to rise further in the coming days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its Monday noon bulletin, warned of heavy to very heavy rain across Maharashtra, the Konkan region and Goa, over the next week.

• July 7: Heavy rainfall at a few places. Occasional strong surface winds reaching 45-55 kmph are very likely.

• July 8: Moderate rain

• July 9: Heavy rainfall at isolated places

• July 10: Moderate rain

• July 11: Moderate rain