'Traffic' Ramaswamy And Public Interest Litigation (PIL)

'Traffic' Ramaswamy, a 82 year old, who has a record of around 400 Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in his name has fought valiantly for many reforms and stood against injustice which would have affected the society. For him, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is tool to set right a wrong. For his age, he is still young and fearless about the consequences of petition which were pending or disposed of by the Madras High Court.

PIL:

Public Interest Litigation is a method through which 'Traffic Ramaswamy' sought many social reforms. Those reforms are beyond the law of the land. The gray area untouched by normal statute had been set right through his PIL.

Why the name 'Traffic' Ramaswamy?

The 82 year old braveheart worked as a weaving master in Binny Mills. In 1971, he quit the job and took up social service as his profession. He got actively engaged in regulating traffic near Parrys corner, Chennai and assisted traffic police. He used to make note of the vehicles that violate traffic rules and forward them to the concerned authorities.

Disowned Man:

For such a great social figure, the family life was never happy. Start from the marriage to till date, he is said to have unusual relationship. His father refused to attend his marriage that he refused to accept dowry from bride. Then, due to his social service activities and public interest litigation, he was despised by people who are against his PIL movement. The family disowned him as he was strong on his principle of social justice. So he decided to stay away from his family to reduce trouble to them. He used to visit his family once in every 15 days.

Threats For Filing PIL:

The strategy of moving PIL has attracted numerous threats from people how possess power and money. The slew of PIL has attracted queue of threats. For the man who values the purpose more than his life, such threats failed to stop him from moving court seeking justice. All he aimed was social reform through judiciary. His trust on judiciary made him move court for almost any issue which is unjust and arbitrary.

See also: Madras High Court Direction on unrecognized play schools

Madras High Court Ban on Fish Cart:

In 2002, the Madras High Court banned plying motorized fishing carts. The order was pronounced in response to PIL filed by the 'Traffic' Ramaswamy. Then the threats resulted in real injury. He lost vision in one of his eyes as a miscreant stabbed him when he was regulating traffic in a busy road. The attack was to seek revenge for the ban on motorized fishing carts plying on the roads.

The Then Chief Justice of Madras High Court ordered police protection to 'Traffic Ramaswamy'. From that day, he is seen with armed police security accompany him all time. the question is "do the gun has bullets or not?"

See also: Supreme Court Struct down Section 66A of IT Act.

Trust On Judiciary:

A man of principle, 'Traffic' Ramaswamy always stood strong against injustice. The fearless stated we don't need to know law to when and for what we need to file Public Interest Litigation (PIL), if we feel discomfort with any move by the government or big shots, just go ahead and file on. 

Chennai City Map: Chennai Metro Rail Project

The Chennai Metro Rail project is an initiative to map railway lines to the major parts of the Chennai city. For an emerging economy like India such infrastructure projects boost economic growth. The aim was to provide connectivity to the major part of the Chennai City. The present sub-urban EMU services don’t reach most part of the inner Chennai City. The Chennai map is filled with haphazard roads and streets.  The metro rail would provide connection between much visited Chennai tourist places, business hub and hotels in Chennai.

As common among all infrastructure projects, Chennai city traffic got a huge hit. The diversion and one way caused inconvenience to the general public especially people who depend heavily on those arterial roads to commute between office and home. Not to mention the vehicles packing at each signal at peak hours! Despite state government effort to reduce choking at Chennai city traffic signals, the snail pace traffic is the order of the day.

The worst of all is the situation of pedestrians. Majority of the footpath that were just a left-over of present day corporation roads disappeared as the demolition and restructuring debris of buildings has covered all over the left-over footpath.  The worst affected among them are elderly and disabled person.

The recent footbridge between Chennai Fort sub-urban railway station and Chennai Central station are good example. The construction of new footbridge over the crossing is laudable step to help pedestrian to cross between the all-time busy Chennai city roads. But such footbridge must benefit all class pedestrian. The present construction of footbridge between the two railway stations causes too much inconvenience than good.

The new footbridge is not pedestrian friendly than former subway footpath which is closed for the Chennai metro rail project. The following are the major factors that make the present footpath between the two major railway stations a difficult task for pedestrians: 

• The steps of the new footpath are much steeper than normal. To be frank, even a young person of age 35 years has to get hold of the railings on the either side of the footbridge when getting down or up the footbridge. 
• And the steps are not wide enough to keep a firm foot on each step. The bridge seems to be completed in haste. 
• The resonating sound of footsteps of other people who use the bridge may make us feel insecure about the safety. The vibration will make us think the bridge might collapse any moment even though it might be technically fit for use.

Not only is the footbridge between Chennai Fort and Central Railway stations in limbo. Every other footbridge suffer lacuna when it comes to address the needs of elderly and disabled persons. Those who need utmost care and social protection are neglected when it comes to planning infrastructure of Chennai City.

The elderly and disabled friendly footbridges exist at fewer places. Nevertheless, most crossing has not incorporated friendliness of the footbridge to facilitate elderly and disabled. The very use of these footbridges is defeated. At most locations, footbridges were never used. People prefer to cross busy road than using the footbridge.

Not only the elderly and disabled get affected. The tourist who visit Chennai tourist places are worst affected. For Chennai, medical tourism is it famous for. But the tourist who depend on Chennai city map to travel to tourist places are worst affected. They will be left in Chennai Urban jungle without any help than to depend heavily on private transport who will try to fleece tourist.

The intention to place Chennai Metro rail on Chennai city map will help a lot in future but at the cost of present. The great hurdle for any tourist in Chennai is to reach 5 star hotels or 3 star hotels in Chennai of their choice. They are at the mercy of Chennai traffic. The present Metro rail project will address the traffic concerns of tourist but the present change to facilitate the project has cost dear to the commuters.

With unfriendly footbridges and road traffic, the travel within Chennai was made a challenge. The only solution to the present day ordeal was to complete the Chennai Metro Rail Project on time with no more time extension. Not only the road traffic but also the pedestrians suffer the heat of uncomforting travel. With exponential increase the vehicles year by year, the situation would turn worse by each year.