Agitated residents said the snag had exposed that the authorities were not capable of dealing with such exigencies. Even the water-tankers didn't reach the people though the authorities claimed to have arranged for these.

"Tankers are for VIPs," many residents could be heard murmuring as they carried water in buckets and utensils from hand-pumps. According to officials, there was a snag in the trunk of main supply water line from the Sector 37 water works. "We thought it was a minor case of leakage which was detected around 2 p.m. yesterday. But, we were caught unawares as it was a bigger fault," they said. "We tried to rectify the fault last evening but couldn't." There was also reports of muddy water in the taps in the morning when the supply restored.