In the wake of torrential rains, in Mumbai this year, the city reached the first 1,000mm rainfall milestone on July 21, and the subsequent 1,000mm mark in just five days. Adding to the city’s relief, two crucial lakes, Vihar and Tansa, amo ng the seven that supply water to Mumbai, overflowed after Tuesday midnight. Last week, the smallest among the seven lakes, Tulsi, overflowed.
Thus, three of the seven lakes have reached full capacity, with total water stock in all seven hitting 59% of capacity. Alerts have been issued in villages in the surroundings of Ambernath, Ulhasnagar and Kalyan along the Ulhas river as the water level of Barvi Dam, at 70. 5 metres, is within striking reach of the 72. 6-metre capacity level. Once this is reached, the dam’s 11 gates will open and the overflow released. Incessant heavy rain lashed Mumbai prompting the Met department to upgrade the 'orange' alert to 'red' with effect from Wednesday night till Thursday afternoon, officials said. The red alert, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, is valid from 8 pm on Wednesday till July 27 afternoon which applies to Mumbai city and suburban areas, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a statement quoting IMD Mumbai.