The metaphor for street fighting in Tamil has been the familiar "kozhaa adi sandai." The warring women at the street taps with their pots in line would begin the argument with the superior claims of the first in line. Then the scrap would deteriorate to family lineage, individual misdemeanours, status of husband and family, personality traits and finally descend to moral and character assassination. This has been a familiar scene in the slums of Tamil Nadu that has often been the topic of stories, dramas, films and TV serials.

Today, the ubiquitous black Sintex tank placed at intervals on every street and bye lane has become as familiar a sight in Chennai as its monstrous cutouts used to be. The anxious line-up of iridescent water pots in plastic and stainless steel marching away to the horizon is a sightseeing phenomenon for tourists to the city.

The sparring slum dweller has been joined in the fray by every citizen and the lack of water has cut across the class and creed bar. The noise of the water-tanker motor, raucous and sound polluting as it may be, is like an alarm or air raid siren that summons the neighbourhood. People rush to fill up various containers of different types, sizes and shapes with precious drinking water. Citizens are issued with tokens, 25 paise per pot is being charged by the tanker driver for his bounty and six pots of water per household is being supplied daily at any which hour. Local leaders are appointed by turns to supervise the issue of the water and he/she gets a cut for the job done.

Cars with the boots filled with water containers, autos and hand/fish carts, bicycles with the carrier fitted specially to accommodate water pots, even wheelbarrows and old perambulators have been pressed into use by the innovative citizen. The sneaky bungalow owner or the street-smart citizen surreptitiously inserts a tube into the tank and with a motor draws out the water to fill their sumps and overhead tanks. The wary public catches them in the act and the tempers fly with words, abuses and fisticuffs coming into play.

Even the beasts at the watering hole in the jungle behave with a better decorum. Each fills up with enough water to satisfy the individual animal. Man abuses nature and expects a perpetual reward for his wasting of the bountiful resources that he has been blessed with.

The rains have come for what it is worth.

Will Chennai learn its lesson and conserve water? Will we ever get water through the mains as they have been rusting and corroding through disuse over the months? Will the State's finances allow repairs and restoration of piped water to the city?

What will happen if the citizens refuse to pay the water tax or sue the government for failure to provide basic rights? Can we get properly metered water supply with all paying their share like the Western cities of London and New York, or will that too become a fiasco like the Electricity supply?

We claim to live in a civilised metropolis.
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