The district administration warned that private water suppliers charging more than Rs 350 per tanker will be punished and their tankers seized. But people in large parts of the city said they were forced to pay more than double the amount, up to Rs 1,000 for a tanker of 5,000 litres.

WATCH OUT

• The Gurgaon DM says he has issued stern orders to private water suppliers that if they were found selling water beyond Rs 350 per tanker, their tankers would be impounded.
  
• He says people should inform his officers if the suppliers overcharged them.

District Magistrate Rakesh Gupta said the repair work was on in full swing and the situation would improve by Wednesday. Officials said about 400 water tankers have been pressed into service to meet the demands of the 13 lakh population. About 250 tankers have been borrowed from neighbouring cities and 25 tankers from the army, Gupta said.

But residents in several colonies complained that they have had to depend on private suppliers. Shakuntala Chaudhary of Sector 4 said she was forced to pay Rs 850 for a tanker. "As the government officials did not listen to our request to supply a water tanker at our home, I had no other option but to go for private suppliers who demanded Rs 1,000 for each tanker of 5,000 litres. My neighbour and I struck a deal for two tankers at the rate of Rs 850 each," she said. "It is sheer blackmail by suppliers."

Sangeetha Murthy of DLF Phase III said several people in her block had to purchase water from private water suppliers at exorbitant rates. Jyoti of Laxmi Garden said she had requested for a tanker at the helpline in the morning but managed to get one only by evening.