Tulsi Lake Overflows After Heavy Rainfall, Boosting Mumbai’s Water Reserves During Monsoon

The overflow occurred just hours after Vihar Lake reached full capacity at 9:00 pm on Tuesday, making both reservoirs the first two water sources in Mumbai’s supply network to overflow this monsoon.

Continuous rainfall across Mumbai and surrounding catchment regions has substantially improved the city’s overall water reserves. According to the BMC, rainfall recorded between 6:00 am on July 7 and 6:00 am on July 8 increased the combined water stock in Mumbai’s seven reservoirs to 41.36% of their total storage capacity.

The civic body stated that reservoir levels rose by 12.44% in the last 24 hours and by 24.44% over the previous 48 hours. Despite Vihar Lake and Tulsi Lake reaching full capacity, the total water stock across Mumbai’s seven reservoirs currently stands at 41.43% of their combined storage capacity, providing significant relief to the city’s water supply situation.

मुंबईकरांना पाणीपुरवठा करणाऱ्या ७ तलावांपैकी तुळशी तलाव मंगळवार (दिनांक ७ जुलै २०२६) रात्री ११ वाजून ४३ मिनिटांनी ओसंडून वाहू लागला आहे.
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Tulsi Lake, one of the 7 lakes that supplies water to Mumbai, has started overflowing at 11:43 pm yesterday (7 July 2026) pic.twitter.com/W1qr6jXR7M

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— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) July 8, 2026

Tulsi Lake is among the seven reservoirs that supply drinking water to Mumbai and is one of only two reservoirs located within the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation limits. A key feature of Mumbai’s interconnected reservoir system is that overflow from Tulsi Lake naturally flows into Vihar Lake, supporting the city’s integrated water management network.

Although Tulsi Lake is the smallest among Mumbai’s drinking water reservoirs, it remains an important source of water for the city. The reservoir has a live storage capacity of 8,046 million litres and supplies an average of 18 million litres of water daily.

Located inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park, approximately 35 kilometres from the BMC headquarters, Tulsi Lake is a historic man-made reservoir. The construction of the lake was completed in 1879 at a reported cost of Rs 40 lakh.

The reservoir has a catchment area of approximately 6.76 square kilometres and a water spread area of around 1.35 square kilometres when filled to capacity.

मंगळवार, दिनांक ७ जुलै २०२६ सकाळी ६ ते बुधवार, दिनांक ८ जुलै २०२६ या २४ तासात झालेल्या पावसामुळे मुंबईला पाणी पुरवठा करणाऱ्या ७ जलाशयांचा पाणीसाठा ४१.३६ % झाला आहे .

गेल्या २४ तासात जलाशयातील पाणीसाठ्यात १२.४४ % वाढ झाली आहे.

तसेच ४८ तासात २४.४४ % वाढ झाली आहे. #MyBMCUpdates pic.twitter.com/MzGjXqQfio

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) July 8, 2026

Tulsi Lake had overflowed on August 16, 2025, and August 4, 2024. However, this year’s overflow occurred significantly earlier, indicating favourable rainfall conditions in the lake’s catchment area during the initial phase of the monsoon.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a generally cloudy sky with intermittent spells of light to moderate rainfall across Mumbai and its suburbs during the day.

A high tide of 3.77 metres is expected at 5:17 pm on Wednesday, while the next high tide of 3.49 metres is forecast at 7:00 am on Thursday.

The early overflow of Tulsi Lake, along with Vihar Lake reaching full capacity, highlights the positive impact of sustained monsoon rainfall on Mumbai’s water reserves and strengthens the city’s water supply position during the rainy season.