Gurgaon reservoirs run out of buffer water stock

Taps will run dry for two more days as the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) ran out of its buffer water stock on Wednesday evening and supply from the Gurgaon Water Channel (GWC) did not reach the city’s treatment plants.

Gurgaon entered the fourth day of water crisis after agitating Jats damaged parts of the GWC over the weekend.

On Wednesday, Huda supplied 25 million gallons per day (MGD) of water against the usual 70, a shortfall of 45MGD. The supply was the last from the authority’s 50-MGD buffer stock at its Basai and Chandu Budhera water treatment plants.

Now, Huda is expecting raw water supply from the Yamuna by Thursday morning, an official said.

The crisis affected household chores and the daily routine of residents and office goers. Help lines at civic agencies rang all day with residents calling in to log their complaints. Most residents said they had to turn to private water suppliers with the government agencies doing little to address their problems.

Deepti Balani of DLF Phase 1 said she got a water tanker at 1.30pm after complaining several times to the authorities. “It has become difficult to deal with the authorities these days, especially in the morning, when the family requires more water,” Balani said.

Residents, who have gatherings scheduled, regulated consumption to save as much water as they can. “We have a marriage ceremony at our place. Around 30 people are expected to attend it and there is no water. The situation is bad. Although we are getting water tankers, they are not enough. One person gets less than 50 litres a day,” Mohan Sharma, a resident of Sector 40, said.

Office goers skipped work on Wednesday. “When I woke up, there was not a single drop of water. I did not have breakfast till noon,” Dhruv Bansal of DLF Phase 2 said.

The crisis also affected entrepreneurs in Gurgaon’s commercial area Udyog Vihar. They approached the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructural Development Corporation for relief.