Mumbai’s streets may be flooded, but the city’s drinking water supply remains under severe pressure, highlighting a striking monsoon paradox.
Heavy rainfall has submerged roads, including the Andheri subway, with some areas receiving more than 100mm of rain in 24 hours, reported India Today. Yet, the seven reservoirs supplying Mumbai’s drinking water are only 6.93 per cent full, down sharply from 39.5 per cent at the same time last year.
The contrast is because urban flooding and reservoir replenishment follow different paths. Rain falling on the city’s concrete landscape quickly overwhelms drains, causing waterlogging, while reservoirs depend on sustained rainfall across their catchment areas in Thane, Palghar and Nashik over several weeks.
The delayed arrival of the southwest monsoon left reservoirs depleted even as they continued supplying about 4,000 million litres of water daily.
Until prolonged rainfall replenishes the seven-lake system, Mumbai is expected to face drinking water shortages despite its flooded roads.
