Boil and filter drinking water for a week as Yewai reservoir compartment returns to service

Residents of Mumbai, its eastern suburbs and parts of Thane and Bhiwandi have been told to boil and then filter their drinking water for seven days. The advisory follows the return to service of Compartment No. 2 of the Yewai balancing reservoir, part of the Pise-Panjrapur system that feeds the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Repairs on the compartment are over, and it was brought back into use on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.

The BMC has described the step as a precaution. Its concern is that bringing the compartment back into operation could change the quality of the water that reaches homes. The warning covers Mumbai city, the eastern suburbs, and those parts of the Thane and Bhiwandi municipal corporation areas that draw water from the BMC network. The civic body has asked people to cooperate and to treat drinking water as advised for the whole week.

In the island city, the notice reaches A Ward, where it applies to the Naval Dockyard and the premises of the Bombay Port Trust. B Ward, E Ward, F South Ward and F North Ward are covered in full.

In the eastern suburbs, T Ward is affected at Mulund East and Mulund West. In S Ward the notice applies to Bhandup, Nahur, Kanjurmarg and Vikhroli East. N Ward brings in Vikhroli, Ghatkopar East and Ghatkopar, and L Ward includes Kurla East. M East Ward and M West Ward are entirely within the advisory.

After the BMC notice, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) issued its own advisory on Wednesday. Some parts of Thane get water through connections on the BMC's Pise-Panjrapur main, and people living there have been asked to follow the same week-long routine. The TMC said the precaution matters most for households that rely on that pipeline for daily needs, and that it must continue for the full period even though the reservoir is working again. Elsewhere in Thane, areas not served by the linked pipeline are not covered.

The affected localities include Pachpakhadi, Bhakti Mandir Road, the Tekdi Bungalow area and the B-Cabin area. Patilwadi, Koliwada, Mahagiri, Kharkar Ali and Jambhli Naka are also on the list, along with the Masunda Talao area, Ram Maruti Road and Kopri-Anandnagar. The remaining areas are Ramchandra Nagar No. 1, Sainath Nagar, Namdev Wadi, Raghunath Nagar, Jijamata Nagar, Kajuwadi, Louiswadi and Hajuri. The corporation has appealed to people in all of them to drink only water that has been boiled and filtered.

Separately, Thane faces a scheduled cut in supply. The TMC will reduce water by 10 per cent across its jurisdiction every Wednesday, as a way to manage stocks amid the possible impact of El Nino and fears of drought-like conditions. Under the plan, supply will be shut for 24 hours in several parts of the city, from 9 am on Wednesday to 9 am on Thursday. The cut will be carried out through the corporation's own network and through the STEM Water Distribution and Infrastructure Company Pvt. Ltd.

The decision follows a directive from the state government asking local bodies to use water judiciously and give priority to drinking needs. A government resolution calls for planned and careful use of water stocks across Maharashtra until August 31, 2027.

The first shutdown began at 9 am on Wednesday, October 28, and runs until 9 am on Thursday, October 29. Residential and commercial areas affected include Ghodbunder Road, Lokmanya Nagar, Vartak Nagar in the Wagle Estate area, Saket, Ritu Park, Jail, Gandhi Nagar, Rustomjee, Siddhachal, Indira Nagar, Roopadevi, Shree Nagar, Samata Nagar, Siddheshwar, Eternity and Johnson, as well as parts of Mumbra and Kalwa. Regular supply stops there during the shutdown, and the administration has asked households and establishments to store water in advance and use it sparingly to limit the inconvenience.