At 9.45 a.m. on a Monday, two traffic policemen are managing unusually chaotic traffic at the Keelkattalai junction.
Signalling to motorists not to cross the stop line, one of the them turns to me and says, his voice quivering with frustration: “I wish the electrical fault at the traffic post is rectified soon, so that I can use my mike. Using it makes all the difference.”
The traffic address system — the visible sign of which are two speakers positioned in two directions — is one of the casualties of Vardah, and S. Sivakumar feels handicapped.
With the mike, Sivakumar has endeared himself to many motorists. He uses it not just to communicate instructions to the motorists, but also to sensitise them to safety concerns on the road. He’s also known to give an occasional pep talk to waiting motorists.
Truth be told, Sivakumar is not doing something extremely out of the ordinary. By using the public address system, he’s just following the rule book. Many important junctions, including Shollinganallur, Perungalathur and Tambaram — have provisions for operating public address system. It’s just that they are not being used.
Sivakumar started using the mike at the Chromepet junction, near Siddha Hospital, where he was earlier posted.
“I used it for over a year,” says Sivakumar, adding that with this approach, he was able to impact the motorists. He humanises his instructions.“While communicating a message about wearing a helmet, I look at the motorcyclist and tell him about his family. Listening to me, many motorcyclists have come back to show me the have bought helmets,” he says. Sivakumar says he has been using the public address system at Kilkattalai junction for the last three years.
“Between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., and sometimes in the evening, you will see me regulating traffic with a mike in one hand,” says Sivakumar, who is also the area marshal for Madipakkam.
According to G.K. Manavannan, inspector, Madipakkam, many traffic personnel consider holding a mike and regulating traffic, cumbersome. “Sivakumar has a special way of doing it,” he says.
Last year, a property management company with an office at Kilkattalai honoured him for his unique style of managing traffic.
“We pass through the junction every day and you can see the difference when Sivakumar is at the signal with the public address system,” says S.Thangavel, managing director, Nimmadhi Property Management.
Prabhu Shankar, manager at the firm, says: “We honoured him at the traffic signal and many acknowledged his role.”