Mumbai's water reserves dip below 7% as monsoon delays
Mumbai is facing a severe water shortage as the combined live storage in its seven supply reservoirs has dropped to less than 7%, significantly lower than the 39.5% recorded during the same period last year. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reported that as of 6 a.m. on Monday, June 29, 2026, the reservoirs held 1,00,279 million litres of water, just 6.93% of their total usable capacity.
The seven reservoirs—Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Middle Vaitarna, Tulsi, and Vihar—form the lake system that supplies drinking water to India's financial capital and its metropolitan area. Their combined live storage capacity is 14.47 lakh million litres, and they normally provide around 4,000 million litres of water daily to Mumbai.
Four major reservoirs—Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, and Middle Vaitarna—together contained only 46,192 million litres, or 6.65% of their combined capacity. Among them, Vihar reservoir had the highest storage at 45.13% of its live capacity, followed by Tulsi at 24.26% and Modak Sagar at 18.47%. Upper Vaitarna remained below its Lower Drawdown Level (LDL), with its useful live storage recorded as zero, though 11,974 million litres below the LDL were being utilised.
The delayed southwest monsoon and forecasts of strong El Niño conditions later this year have raised concerns. Monsoon typically reaches Mumbai around June 10, but its onset has been delayed this year, unlike last year when it arrived in May. However, current storage levels are slightly higher than on the same date in 2024, when they stood at 5.43%.
In response, the BMC has implemented water conservation measures. A 10% water cut was imposed on May 15, and from June 17, a 20% cut was applied to industrial and commercial establishments. The civic body is closely monitoring reservoir levels and has issued a circular detailing austerity steps for drinking water management, following directives from the Maharashtra government's Water Resources Department.
Recent rainfall has brought some relief: in the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m., Tulsi received 179 mm, Vihar 112 mm, and Modak Sagar 38 mm, while the Bhandup Complex recorded 191 mm. The BMC continues to urge residents to use water judiciously as the city navigates this crisis.
