The crisis was caused by a breach in a canal that supplies water to nearly 70 per cent of Gurgaon, officials said, adding that the situation would continue to be grim at least till Thursday The administration has sought help from neighbouring cities and the army to supply groundwater through tankers.

The repair of the canal could be completed by Tuesday, Gurgaon district magistrate Rakesh Gupta said. "Water in the canal is expected to flow by Wednesday morning or Thursday," he added. Giving the cause of the crisis, Gupta said a portion of the Gurgaon canal caved in on Saturday. The damaged portion was near the spot where the canal was breached by villagers on March 17.  

"We have sought help from Rewari, Faridabad, Mahendergarh, Jhajjar and also asked the army to send us water tankers. We have also set up a number of control rooms and helpline numbers have been flashed," he added. The DM said about 300 tankers supplied water to residents on Sunday.

The worst affected areas included Sector 4, 7, 22, 23, 10A, Palam Vihar, DLF Phase I, II and III. Many said they had to buy water from private tankers at the rate of Rs 500 to 700 for 5,000 litres.

Dharam Sagar, chairman of Federation of Residents Welfare Associations, said residents had been facing a water crisis for the past 3-4 days. "It got worse since Saturday. Water tankers are not easily available. If it continues like this, we won't have any water at all tomorrow," he added.

DLF Phase I, II and III will face more difficulties on Monday when DLF's water reservoirs dry up as there's no supply from the canal.

"We have inducted eight water tankers (5,000 litres each) but this would meet just 40 per cent of the demand of our residents for a day. If we do not get canal supply soon, we will have no water. Administration should seek help from Delhi," said Shalini Wadhawa, spokesperson for DLF Group.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said Haryana is looking at a ternative sources to get water for Gurgaon

The Ongoing water crisis has forced the Haryana Government to look for alternative sources of supplying water to the city and reduce its dependency on the Gurgaon water canal. The Haryana Chief Minister is planning to bring water from Agra canal to meet the need.

Gurgaon District Magistrate Rakesh Gupta said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who was incidentally visiting Gurgaon to inaugurate a foot overbridge on Sheetla Mata Road on Sunday in a meeting held on water crisis talked about an option of sourcing water from the Agra canal.

"The CM stressed that Gurgaon's dependency on the Gurgaon canal should be reduced and alternative sources of water supply should be found. He also discussed other options such as Damdama Lake on Sohna road as another source of water for Gurgaon," the DM added.

He said Haryana had planned 800 cusec NCR water supply canal from Kakori, parallel to the existing canal, at the cost of Rs 225 crore. The canal, proposed to be completed in the next 2-3 years, would supply 600 cusec water to Gurgaon alone and would reduce its dependency on the single canal.

The DM added, "Apart from looking for options, the CM has also given strict instructions to the Jhajjar administration and police to avoid breach of Gurgaon canal in future."

Gupta urged the people to refrain from wasting water for gardening and washing their vehicles. "Water is already scarce in Gurgaon and people should be responsible while using water. Those found indulging in wasting water would have to face the music," he said.