Tulsi lake in Mumbai overflows after heavy rains; over 90% water stock in reservoirs

With heavy rains lashing Mumbai and its suburbs, the Tulsi lake, one of the seven reservoirs supplying drinking water to the metropolis, has overflowed, a civic official said on Sunday.

The Tulsi lake, situated in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in suburban Mumbai, started overflowing at around 6.45 am on Saturday, the official said.

The seven reservoirs, which supply water to Mumbai, have more than 90 % water stock now, the official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

Tulsi is the third reservoir which has overflowed after the Tansa and Modak Sagar dams, due to heavy rains in their catchment areas.

This year, the Tulsi lake overflowed almost 26 days later compared to last year, when it became full on July 20, the official said.

Tulsi is the smallest of the seven reservoirs that supply potable water to Mumbai and has a storage capacity of 8,046 million litres. The city gets 18 million litres of water from the lake every day.

"The catchment area of the lake has been receiving rainfall in the last few days, as a result of which the lake overflowed on Saturday," the civic official said.

When the Tulsi lake overflows, its water gets channeled into the Vihar lake, which has not yet reached its maximum capacity.

The Powai lake, another reservoir located in the heart of Mumbai, started overflowing in June, but its water is not used for drinking purposes.

Apart from Tulsi and Vihar, the metropolis receives water from the Bhatsa, Tansa, Lower and Middle Vaitarna reservoirs, all located in neighbouring Thane district, and the Upper Vaitarna dam in Nashik district.