CHENNAI: Monday morning is generally a bad time to try anything new. So, when the traffic cops decided to make a series of major diversions in the KMC-Chetpet-Egmore belt, it wasn’t the best bit of news for motorists brushing the weekend blues from their eyes. Fast forward almost a week and the regulars are all pretty much aware that getting from Poonamallee High Road to Nungambakkam, Gemini or beyond, is no longer a matter of simply crossing a bridge. Albeit grudgingly, it has become a matter of course for most, but what about the people who only come that way occasionally? The answer is one that’ll surprise you — ask a policeman!Ever since the new ‘diversions’ were effected, not only have additional traffic policemen been posted to handle the chaos, they appear to have taken on the role of impromptu guides. Sundar Ramakrishnan, who works as a content developer in Adyar, was pleasantly surprised when he was stopped by a policeman as he tried to take a right onto Chetpet (Dr Gurusamy) bridge. “I was really irritated that I couldn’t turn and when he said oram kattunga (come to the side), I thought it was the usual,” he recounts. But to his delight, the traffic cop asked him where he was heading and once Sundar said he needed to get to Adyar, the cop advised him to go straight, turn right and proceed home through Egmore. “He even suggested that I should take the Beach road, because the control room had told him traffic was low,” adds the techie.Many more such instances have come out as the traffic police have really gotten into the groove, directing people through the “new directions” with ease. One cop at the Harrington Road signal, who has the unpleasant job of turning away residents from heading straight home from Spur Tank road by asking them to take a long U-turn, revealed that motorists had become much more kind when the cops convinced them to take the one-ways, politely. “Earlier, we had to post someone to stop bikes going down the (now) wrong side, but these days people have begun helping us,” he said.Going a step higher is one particular policeman posted at the Gengu Reddy (SDAT) Subway. Apparently, he had a much more effective way of directing student Vignesh Viswanathan, a self-confessed navigation novice. “I needed help going home, so I asked the policeman and he guided me to Anna Nagar. He even pulled out a print out of google maps and drew me a way home,” Vignesh said.Sanjay Arora, Additional CoP, Greater Chennai Traffic Police, said that they were doing their best to ensure congestion was at its lowest. “This arrangement will prolong till the Metro Rail work is concluded, ” he said.
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