In a much-needed push to Mumbai’s existing water stock, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is set to generate additional water of 7,200 million litres by recycling the overflowing rainwater from Vihar lake and make them fit for potable usage.
During the monsoon, surplus water from the catchment areas of three major lakes in Mumbai–Tulsi, Vihar and Powai–gets channelled to the Mithi river through natural estuaries. As a result, the surplus rainwater flowing into the river overflows, resulting in waterlogging at areas like Dharavi, BKC and Kurla which are close to the river.
“Due to climate change, high intensity rains are occurring within a short duration period and often the heavy rains coincide with the high tide of sea at river confluences resulting in flooding across the flood-plain areas in city and suburbs,” Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects), told the Indian Express.
To combat this issue, the BMC will be constructing a mini-pumping station with a capacity to treat 200 million litres daily (MLD) that will hold the additional water. The construction cost has been pegged at Rs 100 crore.
“In view of the above factors, we decided that if overflowing water from Vihar lake into the Mithi river could be collected, then it will not only lead to less flooding in Mumbai but will also result in additional stock of water in the city,” Bangar said.
The pumps will have a capacity to process 200 million litres water daily (200 MLD) and considering that heavy rains occur on an average of 36 days during the monsoon, the civic body aims to generate a minimum 7,200 million litres in a month during monsoon–pushing the water stock. At present, the construction work is underway, and the pumps will become operational from 2027 onwards.
Civic officials said that from the pumping station, the water will be transferred to Mumbai’s sole water filtration plant at Bhandup where the water will be further recycled and filtered at an advanced level, making them fit for potable usage.
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Being an island city, Mumbai draws its water from seven lakes–Tulsi, Vihar, Bhatsa, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna and Modak Sagar. While two of these lakes are located within Mumbai, the rest are in the neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Nashik. The catchment area of these lakes gets filled during the monsoon, and the water is transported through tunnels to the BMC’s filtration plant. After filtration, water is supplied to every household and commercial establishment through pipelines and reservoirs.
