History of Water Supply

Vihar is the oldest of the water supplying lakes. Work on the Vihar Water Works commenced in January 1856 and was completed in 1860, during the governorship of John Lord Elphinstone. It cost Rs. 65 lakhs. Between 1872 and 1879 Tulsi lake was constructed by damming and redirecting the river Tasso at a cost of Rs. 40 lakhs. The Powai lake was completed in 1889 and the Tansa reservoir in 1892.

The Bombay Municipal Corporation increased the capacity of the Tansa lake; doubling the volume in 1916, and tripling it five years later. Soon after that, the BMC acquired agricultural land in the catchment area of the Vihar lake as a sanitary precaution.

The World Bank's "Bombay Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Projects" were implemented between 1975 and 1995, increasing the city's water supply from 260 to 650 million gallons per day, mainly by the development of the Vaitarna site.