Rains fail to arrive on time, Mumbai suffers

Mumbai: Mumbai city is reeling under shortage of water.

As the sun beats down on maximum city, it may be more than a week that people can enjoy a rain shower.

Weather officials say that the monsoon currents have stopped advancing northwards.

Indian Met department Director Dr PCS Rao said, "The monsoon currents have not picked up. The westerlies over the Arabian sea have not been deep and strong enough that will usher the monsoon winds inside."

Mumbaikars battle not just the blazing heat but a shortage of water that stares them in the face.

Taps could soon be running dry in Mumbai. The city receives its water supply from six lakes and the BMC is already tapping into the reserve supply of some of these lakes to fulfill the daily water requirement.

The water in these lakes will only last for another month at the most, say sources.

The civic administration has already imposed a 10 per cent water cut in the city.

Officials say that the situation could worsen if there is no rain in the next 10 days.

The Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai, P Charankar said, "The normal water supply to Mumbai is around 3400 million litres per day, but now we will be able to supply only 3250 to 3300 million litres per day."

People dread the possibility of having to buy their daily quota of drinking water. Some of them beg that the administration should not cut supply as buying water is beyond them.

Others would rather leave it to God.

With the city already grappling with water shortage, the delay in monsoons means more pressure on Mumbai's lakes, the civic authorities, and most of all, on Mumbaikars.

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