Mumbai Water Supply: Sufficient Stock In 7 Lakes, 34% Daily Losses Due To Theft And Leakages Raise Concerns

Mumbai: The total water stock in the seven lakes is sufficient to prevent water cuts until the next monsoon, providing significant relief to residents. However, the latest data from the Hydraulic Department reveals that 34%, or 1,343 million litres, of the daily supply of 3,950 million litres is lost due to theft, leakages, and pilferage (also called as Non- revenue water).

Additionally, the department is facing a shortage of 38% of engineers, which is hindering efforts to repair leaks and address these issues effectively.

While the two lakes supplying water to Mumbai—Tulsi and Vihar—are located within the city, the other five lakes are in the neighboring districts of Palghar, Thane, and Nashik, at distances ranging from 100 to 175 km. Water from these lakes is transported through a pipeline network of approximately 5,000 km that spans the city.

The city's water demand is 4,463 million litres per day (MLD), resulting in a shortfall of nearly 500 MLD. Additionally, the 34% daily water loss has exacerbated the water supply issues, despite the dams having sufficient stock.

According to civic officials, "The water pipelines are laid through forested and remote areas leading to Mumbai, with many sections underground. This makes the security and maintenance of these pipelines crucial to prevent leaks and theft. Additionally, the pipelines are vulnerable to damage from soil, silt, humid weather, waste, and chemicals, leading to corrosion and increased water leakage. Furthermore, out of 1,100 scheduled posts in the Hydraulic Engineering department, 38% of engineer positions are vacant. We are short-staffed, and some engineers are assigned election duties, which affects the work of leak detection," he added.

Several infrastructural projects in the city have damaged pipelines over the last few years, resulting in the loss of crores of liters of water, blamed civic official. Meanwhile, Purshottam Malvade, Chief Engineer (Hydraulic Engineering), stated, "In other cities, the non-revenue water percentage ranges from 38% to 40%. We have reduced this from 38% to 34% in the past three years. Additionally, we have laid a tunnel network of 95 km, with work on another 20 km currently in progress. Under the 'Water to All' policy, approximately 3,500 new connections have been provided in slum areas, which has helped reduce water loss. We are also deploying an agency to detect underground leaks."

Sitaram Shelar, founder of the city-based NGO 'Pani Haq Samiti,' expressed concerns about the situation, stating, "Ideally, 15% of water loss through leakage, theft, evaporation, and pilferage is acceptable. What the BMC is saying is a false narrative; they lack the technical parameters to accurately calculate water loss. Water that does not generate revenue is classified as a loss by the BMC. Additionally, unaccounted water supplied to industries and corporate offices is then categorised as non-revenue water."

Daily supply to city - 3950 million litres

Demand of water - 4,463 million litres

Non revenue water - 1,343 million litres

Total water required in seven lakes for whole year - 14.47 lakh million litres (on October 1)

Seven lakes - Tulsi, Vehar, Middle Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Bhatsa and Tansa.

Complaints related leakages -

2002 - 31,447

2023 - 23,700