Association meeting turns into a riot. Elderly residents accuse Shankar of collaborating. Lakshmi presents data: the apartment’s borewell has dropped the water table 40 feet in two years. Murugan’s men lurk outside, offering “off-book” water for cash.
Public opinion shifts. The Chief Minister announces a one-time amnesty for residential associations that install rainwater recharge wells. Murugan is arrested. But the water tax remains — now debated in courts. chennai water tax
This creates a paradox. Residents pay their Water Tax dutifully to the government, but end up paying a second "water tax" to private tanker operators for actual water. This double-burden has been a driving force behind political promises of "24/7 water supply." The challenge for the Metro Water board is to use the tax revenue to expand the pipeline network so effectively that the private tankers go out of business. Association meeting turns into a riot