Amid heavy rains 3 gates of Middle Vaitarna Dam lifted; water storage in all 7 dams at 67.88 pc

Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) Three gates of the Middle Vaitarna Dam in Palghar district were opened on Monday afternoon following a sharp rise in water levels due to continuous rainfall in the catchment area, Mumbai's civic body said.

Built in 2014 in Mokhada taluka, the dam, which stands 102.4 metres high and spans 565 metres in length, is one of the seven reservoirs that supply water to the metropolis. The other six are Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Tansa, Modak Sagar, Vihar, and Tulsi. The seven cumulatively supply 385 crore litres of potable water to the megapolis.

In a release issued in the evening, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said water is currently being released at a rate of 3,000 cusecs from gates numbered 1, 3, and 5, which are lifted by 30 centimetres, of the Middle Vaitarna Dam.

"The gates were opened at 1.15 pm as a precautionary measure, and the discharged water is being stored in downstream Modak Sagar (Lower Vaitarna) reservoir. As on this morning, the dam was 90 per cent full with water level of 282.13 metres against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 285 metres. The Middle Vaitarna Dam has received 1,507 mm of rainfall in its catchment area so far this monsoon," it said.

The dam has a total storage capacity of 19,353 crore litres (193,530 million litres), the release said.

As per the release, the seven reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai stood at 67.88 per cent of total capacity of 1,44,736.3 crore litres (14,47,363 million litres) as at 6 am today. PTI KK BNM