Mumbai Lakes Shrink As Monsoon Stalls
Mumbai’s water supply situation has become increasingly strained as reservoir levels fell below 10% amid a stalled monsoon. Satellite imagery has shown shrinking water spread across several lakes that supply drinking water to the city, raising concern over Mumbai’s dependence on sustained rainfall in reservoir catchment areas.
Mumbai Reservoir Levels Below 10%
The seven reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai held only 9.34% of their combined useful capacity on June 19. This is lower than the same date in the previous two years, when storage stood at 12.27% in 2025 and 10.24% in 2024.
The reservoirs supplying Mumbai are Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Vihar and Tulsi. These lakes usually begin recovering in June once monsoon rain strengthens across the catchment regions.
Satellite Images Show Lakes Shrinking
Satellite radar imagery showed visible retreat in the surface-water extent of several reservoirs. The comparison indicated shrinking shorelines, exposed shallow edges and reduced water spread across key lakes.
Upper Vaitarna is in the most severe condition, with its useful stock recorded as zero after water fell below the lowest drawdown level. Tansa also remained highly depleted, with only 3.87% of its useful capacity available.
Bhatsa, the largest contributor to Mumbai’s water network, stood at 8.63%. Despite the low percentage, it still held a major share of the city’s available useful water because of its large storage capacity.
Monsoon Stall Raises Water Concerns
The southwest monsoon reached parts of Maharashtra but stalled for several days, delaying the rainfall needed to refill Mumbai’s reservoir system. Weather conditions such as weak Arabian Sea winds and limited moisture flow slowed its advance.
For Mumbai, city rainfall alone is not enough. The key requirement is sustained rainfall over distant catchment areas that feed the reservoirs. Until that happens, water stock will remain under pressure.
