Mumbai, May 25 (IANS): With Mumbai lakes on the verge of drying up at the fag end of summer, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced a 5 per cent water cut from May 30 which will be doubled to 10 per cent from June 5, an official said here on Saturday.

With barely 10 per cent water stocks left, the tough move comes as a precaution to ensure that the current available water can last as long as possible, but the BMC assured that there is no reason to panic.

Till date, (May 25), the BMC said a total stock of 140,202 million litres of water is available in the dams supplying drinking water to the country’s commercial capital.

The city needs 14,47,363 million litres annually, but the current stock left is around 5.64 per cent, much lower than last year during the same period.

This was owing to lesser October rainfall in 2023, compared with 2021 and 2022 when the rainy season was active till October 15.

However, the BMC is keeping a close watch on the situation and said Mumbai would get an additional 137,000 million litres from the Bhatsa Dam plus 91,130 million litres from the Upper Vaitarna Dam, spelling relief for Mumbaikars.

The BMC’s water supply cuts shall be applicable to the supply given to Thane, Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation and surrounding villages.

The BMC pointed out that the IMD has predicted a timely onset of monsoon in 2024, considered a silver lining, and the water cuts will remain in force till the water stocks improve.

To help tide over the looming crisis, the BMC has recommended a series of water-saving measures for home and commercial uses, wastage of water, closing running taps or repairing leaky faucets, cleaning homes, vehicles, etc with wet rags instead of pipe-wash, etc.