Since the last week, residents had been complaining of less water in some areas. But by Monday evening, even that had dried up. According to water department officials, a 36 inch pipe has been damaged at Mahavir Nagar in Kandivli (west), causing very low water pressure. This cut off water supply to areas placed on a higher level.

While officials at the western suburb control room at Vile Parle informed that repair work on the pipe had started, they could not say how long it would last. ``We have started the job and all officials, right from the hydraulic engineer to the ward officer, are at the site,'' they informed.But angry residents who frantically buzzed the ward office said they got no response as to the cause of the water shortage. Some residents even staged a march to the office at 9 am, but to no avail. As they waited for the ward officer to land up, a rumour floated around that mayor Nandu Satam had arrived to meet the ward officer.

As soon as this piece of information did the rounds, hawkers doing business on the nearby roads flocked to the ward office in large numbers to meet the mayor and tell him about their grievances.

And in this chaos, news of the killing of Bharatiya Janata Party Bhajipala Vikreta Sangh president Omprakash Mishra came in. Shutters were downed by shop-keepers in the area and the police had to intervene to disperse the crowds. For the residents, it looks like they will have to manage without water, as the BMC has not managed to made any alternate arrangements for supply.