Mumbai to run out of water in 200 days>>>

There have been bad seasons before but poor monsoon has left the city facing its worst water crisis. As tempers rise and protests grow, Mumbai has enough to last just another 200 days.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are desperate times for Mumbai. Delayed monsoon and poor rainfall have pushed India’s commercial capital to the brink of its worst water crisis. According to officials, at present rates, there is enough water to last the city just another 200 days.

With the supply down by about 3 million litres of water per day, options from desalinating the Arabian sea water to recycling sewage water, digging wells/borewells, cutting supply for one day per week and the drastic move of not providing water connection to new high-rises are being considered.

Civic officials are also grappling with the fear of an impending public backlash — the protests for increasing the supply of water have already seen one death, vitalization of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) offices, hunger strikes, in addition with marchas practically everyday.

While the city’s demand for water is 4,200 million litres per day (mld), only 3,450 mld can be supplied. The present availability of water is around 7 million litres as against 10 million litres last year. Even with the water cut in place since June (imposed just before the monsoon as the rains were delayed), the situation hasn’t improved due to poor rainfall, which failed to fill the lakes, leaving many areas without adequate water.