Mumbai Prays for Rain

Citizens in Mumbai, India, are battling both blazing heat and a water shortage, as the city taps deep into its reserves to meet its daily water requirements, the Islamic Broadcasting Network reported Wednesday.

India’s largest city, Mumbai receives its water supply from six reservoirs, all of which are quickly running out of water. Two of the reservoirs have already dipped below their lowest extractable marks.

“The normal water supply to Mumbai is around 3,400 million liters per day, but now we will be able to supply only 3,250 to 3,300 million liters per day,” said P Charankar, the Deputy Municipal Commissioner.

Every year the city relies on the heavy rains of the monsoon season between June and September to replenish its reservoirs. Indian Ocean monsoons typically deposit more than 90 percent of the 70 inches of rainfall Mumbai receives each year.

However, weather officials said that the currents have stopped advancing northward, threatening to worsen the water shortage if rain does not fall in the next 10 days.

“The monsoon currents have not picked up, said Dr. PCS Rao, director of the Indian Meteorology Department. “The westerlies over the Arabian Sea have not been deep and strong enough to usher the monsoon winds inside.”

The civic administration has imposed water cuts in the city, but if rain does not fall soon, Mumbai’s six reservoirs may only last one more month.