Amid heavy rains, Mumbai's Vihar lake overflows; 6th to be filled to brim

In the wake of heavy rains in Mumbai over the last few days, Vihar lake, one of the key sources of potable water for the metropolis, started overflowing on Monday afternoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The lake, which has a storage capacity of 2,769.8 crore litres, is the sixth of the seven reservoirs, that supply potable water to Mumbai, to overflow, bringing relief to local residents. The lake, located in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, overflowed at 2.45 pm , the BMC said. 

  Last year, the lake started overflowing almost a month early, on July 25. A day before, another lake in Mumbai, Tulsi, overflowed following heavy rains in the city and suburbs. Mumbai receives 3,800 MLD (millions of litres per day) water from seven reservoirs -- Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Tansa, Modak Sagar, Vihar and Tulsi -- located in Mumbai, Thane and Nashik districts.  The scenic Powai lake in Mumbai also started overflowing earlier this year, but its water is not used for drinking purpose, BMC officials said.