No car washes, no garden hoses, and maybe no swimming pools: How Mumbai’s housing societies are preparing for the water cut

Residents have also been advised to use buckets instead of showers, while gardeners have been instructed to water only plant roots and avoid splashing water on leaves. “These are small changes but they save a lot of water,” Nandekar said.

In Mulund’s Runwal Chestnut complex, a cluster of three 21-storey buildings, residents are discussing whether to temporarily shut the swimming pool despite the ongoing summer break. “While no immediate closure has been announced, there have been discussions among society members to close the pool and save water,” resident Urich Kamath said.

Empty water-carrying tankers are parked beside a road in Vile Parle in Mumbai North. (Express Photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

At Evershine Towers in Malad’s Evershine Nagar, residents say backup reserves built over time may help tide over the immediate crisis. “On a daily basis, there is always some surplus water left unused, which we have been storing for situations like this,” said resident Harish Chaudhary. The reserve currently stands at 5,000 litres and can last about a week. But if the cut continues longer, the society plans to suspend operations of swimming pools, gyms and banquet halls.

Even before the official cut has kicked in, some parts of the city have already begun depending more heavily on private tankers. In Chandivali’s Nahar Amrit Shakti area, societies have started procuring tanker water over the last few days after receiving what residents described as inadequate supply. Mandeep Singh Makkar, chairman of Synchronicity Housing Society, which houses over 266 flats, said residents had already been alerted last week to store water carefully and prepare for tanker dependence. “We have appealed to all our residents to use water carefully and store some. In such times, we also have to ensure tankers remain adequately available and rates do not get inflated,” he said.

Residents in south Mumbai’s Marine Drive area say they have already been facing shortages for months. Ashok Gupta, vice-president of the Marine Drive Citizens’ Association, said his building, which has 22 flats housing close to 100 residents, has been dependent on private tankers due to low water pressure since November. “There have been regular instances where our building receives 20 to 30 per cent less supply because of low pressure. With the new 10 per cent cut, we expect the shortage to increase further,” Gupta said, adding that tanker water used in the building is non-potable and mixed with the main supply.

In a Dadar residential nook, blue barrels stack high against the wall, safeguarding precious water. (Express Photo by Akash Patil)

The precautionary measures come after the BMC on Monday announced a blanket 10 per cent water cut following directions from the state water resources department. The move also follows concerns over rainfall forecasts this monsoon season after the India Meteorological Department indicated the possible impact of El Niño conditions.

On Tuesday, water stock in the seven lakes supplying Mumbai stood at 3.34 lakh million litres, or 23.12 per cent of total capacity. While the figure is higher than the same period in the previous two years, when stocks had fallen to 19.56 per cent in 2025 and 14.38 per cent in 2024, the civic body has maintained that precautionary measures are necessary to preserve reserves ahead of the monsoon.

Mumbai currently receives around 3,850 million litres per day (MLD) from the civic supply system against an estimated demand of 4,300 MLD, leaving several residential pockets dependent on private tankers to bridge the shortfall.

According to Ankur Sharma, spokesperson for the Mumbai Tanker Association, tankers already supply an additional 550 MLD daily across the city. “Whenever a water cut is implemented, demand automatically rises,” Sharma said, adding that the city’s changing skyline has further strained supply systems. “A four-storey building gets redeveloped into a 15-storey tower but the quantum of water supplied often remains the same. Naturally, demand rises whenever there is a cut,” he said. Tanker operators are expecting demand to rise by at least another 100 MLD during the cut period. At present, Mumbai has around 5,000 water tankers, each with an average capacity of nearly 10,000 litres.

Activists said the burden of the cut would fall disproportionately on slum areas. Sitaram Shelar, founder of Pani Haq Samiti, said the numbers tell a stark story: while areas like Malabar Hill receive 400 litres per capita per day, slum pockets get just 90 litres. “In most upmarket areas like Malabar Hill and Bandra, the 10 per cent cut will not even kick in. Slum pockets would bear the major brunt, with cuts of up to 50 per cent in those areas,” he said.

Amita Bhide, dean of the School of Habitat Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, said Mumbai’s water infrastructure has historically excluded informal settlements. “The city’s water supply model was designed around permanent settlements. Large sections of slums were never integrated into a proper pipeline network because they were treated as temporary structures,” Bhide said.