The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has issued an urgent appeal to residents to curtail their water usage, warning that the city faces a severe water shortage due to a prolonged lack of rainfall.
According to official figures released by the civic body, the water stock in the Morbe Dam, the primary source of water for the region, has plummeted to a critical 9% of its total capacity.
In response to the looming crisis, the Water Supply Department, NMMC, has introduced stringent guidelines to prevent wastage and ensure that remaining reserves are preserved for essential needs.
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Housing societies and private clubs have been urged to completely close down all swimming pools for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the civic body has asked people to stop wasting drinking water by using it to wash cars.
Key directives in the NMMC's post include:
Do not keep the tap running while doing chores.
Avoid using showers for bathing.
Do not throw away the previous day's water thinking it is stale.
Stop wasting drinking water by using it to wash cars.
Do not throw away water used for washing vegetables, fruits, or rinsing lentils and rice: give it to the plants.
Following a review of the city's water supply on Sunday, Municipal Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde instructed officials to step up conservation efforts through a coordinated action plan.
Measures include developing micro-level water management plans for every ward, cracking down on the use of drinking water for pools, gardens and car washing, reviving municipal wells and borewells within five days, and enforcing the ongoing 20% water cut for commercial and industrial establishments.
According to data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as of 6 a.m. on June 30, the combined water reserves across the seven reservoirs supplying Mumbai have plunged to a critical 6.75% of their total capacity. Despite recent spells of rain lashing the coastal capital, the city remains heavily dependent on upcoming monsoon surges to avoid a deepening water crisis.
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The seven-lake system, which has a total usable capacity of 1,447,363 million litres, currently contains only 97,666 million litres of water. This is a stark contrast to the same period last year when the reservoirs were comfortably filled to over 40% of their total capacity.
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