The traffic-stopper is dead. No hoarding for him, please

The traffic-stopper is dead. No hoarding for him, please

Octogenarian Activist Traffic K R Ramaswamy Held Officials, Citizens Accountable For Their Actions

A.Subramani@timesgroup.com

05.05.2021

Dictionaries and thesauruses say the English word ‘traffic’ can be both noun and verb. In Tamil Nadu, particularly in judicial and activist circles, however, it is a proper noun referring to a man — Traffic K R Ramaswamy, aged 87.

It started as a hobby more than 30 years ago. Ramaswamy, then a mill worker, used to stand for hours at the Broadway signal in Chennai regulating traffic. He preened when motorists called him Traffic Ramaswamy. As the years went by, the moniker was shortened to Traffic.

In his trademark white shirt, with two pockets bulging with petitions, and khakhi trousers, clutching a case bundle in one hand and two mobiles in the other, Traffic was a permanent fixture at the Madras high court.

In 2018, a biopic titled ‘Traffic Ramaswamy’ was made with S A Chandrasekaran as the protagonist. When SAC met Traffic for permission to make the biopic, he set a price — ₹200. Traffic called it ‘seed money’.

Traffic’s activism focused on three problems — violation of road rules, encroachment of pavements and roads, and hoardings. You would never know which traffic signal he would take over or which encroachment he would pull down or which hoarding he would knife to tatters. If such direct action did not work, he would call the police — from the local sub-inspector to the commissioner of police, everyone would get SMSs or calls in a span of five minutes. If even that did not work, he would turn up at the Madras high court and file a plea. He’s filed at least 200 such PILs Traffic realised the power of the courts when he successfully challenged the Chennai police’s decision to convert the wide NSC Bose around the high court premises as a one-way. He accused police of settling for the easier option instead of regulating traffic. The other case which got him a lot of goodwill as well as threats was the fish-cart abolition case. Fish-carts, rickety, improvised goods-carriers powered by motorbike engines (most of them sourced from the local stolen goods market), were notorious for causing deadly accidents.

Traffic got them banned because they were never recognised as roadworthy vehicles in the law and, hence, accident victims never got any compensation. His battle against share-autorickshaws, also on the same legal premise, remains inconclusive.

Ramaswamy took on political bigwigs such as M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa too, tearing down their posters and banners right outside their party offices and homes. To his credit, he got away with it.

He was a nightmare for encroachers — big and small — and owners of illegal buildings. His PIL on unauthorised buildings in T Nagar led to a series of judgments on enforcement of development control rules. Though the menace still exists, giant showrooms in Chennai’s shopping hub of T Nagar had to spend crores modifying buildings and introducing fire safety features.

In the Madras high court, Traffic commanded respect matched only by a few designated senior advocates. There was no bench that would not hear him. Of course, sometimes he would get a rap for either taking the law into his own hands or bringing up a political issue for which he is not known. He would trudge quietly out of the court hall on such occasions, only to waltz back in with a PIL on his pet topics the next day.

Hated by vendors occupying pavements, threatened by fishcart owners and physically intimidated by many lawyers, Traffic risked life and limb for the public cause. No wonder, then, he got an armed police security guard tailing him 24X7 for more than two decades.

A small-built man weighing about 40kg, Traffic got thinner and thinner over the last two decades. Hardly surprising as he never had a proper meal. “I enjoy these biscuits and tea more than unlimited full meals,” he would say, settling for snacks even during lunch. Curds, buttermilk, fruit juices, puffed rice, biscuits and tea were his diet. And, through all his field and court visits, he would uncomplainingly trudge around with a urine bag strapped to his body, necessitated by an ailment.

On Traffic’s unfinished agenda is removal of all places of worship encroaching public spaces and pavements. May be someone else will step forward to continue the fight. For Traffic used to often say: “How long can I alone run to every trouble spot, like a fire engine? Everyone coming across road violations and encroachments should take it up in their own way.”

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