Mumbai has tightened water conservation measures as reservoir levels supplying the city continue to decline amid a delayed southwest monsoon.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced fresh restrictions on water use, saying the move is necessary to preserve drinking water supplies.
The civic body has imposed a 20% cut in water supply to industrial, commercial and sports establishments after water stock in the reservoirs supplying Mumbai dropped to 10.35% of total capacity.
The city depends almost entirely on seven lakes that supply drinking water to the city, but with rains arriving later than expected and inflows remaining below normal, water levels have fallen sharply ahead of the peak monsoon period.
As of Tuesday, the reservoirs collectively held 149,750 million litres of water — just 10.35% of their total storage capacity.
The situation has worsened despite the BMC imposing a 10% water cut from May 15 as a precautionary measure.
The concern extends beyond Mumbai, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directing officials to plan water usage carefully to ensure drinking water supplies remain available across Maharashtra until August 2027.
