In an interior street in Chennai, a stormwater drain project protects trees; motorists seek relief from traffic bottlenecks

In measurement 1 of the allegorical Prayer Of The Frog (a postulation of stories from a multiplicity of geographical coordinates) Anthony de Mello presents the communicative of a miss who spares a clump of daisies portion mowing the tract astatine home. Her begetter pays her for the chore, and is consenting to fork retired other wealth if she brought that spot with daisies excessively nether the rotating blades of the tract mower. She turns down the offer, and that is the outgo (a forgone reward) she pays for caring.

On East Abhiramapuram First Street, “daisies” person been protected. And the outgo of that altruism is being borne by motorists, not each of them, but those abiding conscientiously by the one-way regularisation clamped connected the thoroughfare agelong agone arsenic portion of CMRL-related postulation diversions.

The stormwater drain enactment astatine East Abhiramapuram First Street has taken a commendable turn, sometimes astatine wildly geometric angles to prevention old, afloat grown trees. This heart-warming enactment of mercy and biology work has travel with a cost, reduced carriageway connected sections of the road. In a pre-CMRL world, this would person meant small successful presumption of postulation movement. Vehicles would person rolled connected other sides arsenic if thing had happened. Metro Rail work-related postulation diversions hitting this thoroughfare arsenic they did galore different streets successful the Mylapore, Mandaveli and surrounding areas, it had to beryllium made a one-way and it would enactment that mode until the clip Metro Rail trains get successful this region.

As portion of the diversion, MTC buses trundle down the East Abhiramapuram First Street, often successful a barrage. Not a occupation if everyone abided by the one-way diktat. But this regularisation has turned retired to beryllium arsenic delicate arsenic solid and it is shattered successful each successive blink of the eye.

This usurpation could beryllium tolerated erstwhile the roadworthy width was intact. But now, with a recently laid SWD taking bites retired of it, the one-way regularisation has to beryllium enforced with an robust hand. Sridhar Venkataraman, a nonmigratory of East Abhiramapuram is connected the aforesaid leafage astir this: and helium thinks the request to enforce the one-way statement is urgent.

Urgently needed: postulation marshals

“It is expected to beryllium a one-way, but not treated arsenic one. From the roadworthy idiosyncratic acquisition astatine different interior roads that person been swept into Metro Rail-related postulation diversions, CMRL has a immense relation successful its postulation management. But CMRL has not stationed a marshal connected this road. At this point, nary of the postulation signs is visible; thing to archer drivers it is simply a one-way,” says Sridhar. “And the motoring nationalist does not care. Ranga Road has a one-way absorption from C.P. Ramaswamy Road side, but that is ignored. Due to deficiency of postulation directions, Ramachandra Road and Justice Sundaram Road look postulation jams passim the day. The nationalist person to adhere to rules adjacent successful the lack of monitoring. But the hard pill to swallow is that successful the lack of monitoring, determination is usually small adherence to rules.”

At the clip of this nonfiction being published online -- which is the greeting of October 10, 2025 -- the one-way postulation regularisation was inactive being violated with impunity, and nary postulation regularisation was successful place.