"My aim is to make Chennai as the most livable and lovable city. I will continue my social work till I achieve this end," says 'Traffic' Ramasamy, who has fought many a legal battle for the cause of public in the city. Battling

One of the largest filers of public interest litigation petitions in the Madras High Court, he had single handedly fought many cases. However, irked over this, some of his rivals recently ransacked his office in a bid to discourage him from going ahead with his declared principle of making Chennai as a livable city.

Stating that the attack did not deter him, he told reporters that he would continue his fight.

The 73-year-old man, who started his career as a peon in a textile mills, was one of the founders of the Home Guard movement in the state in 1963. He started helping the police in regulating the traffic in the busy Parrys Corner. Appreciating his work, the police issued him an identity card, which earned him the name 'Traffic' Ramasamy.

This activism cost him his family life as the members of his family disowned him, as he continued 'foolish things' of taking up people's cause, he said.

But one of his friends offered him shelter and many friends helped him in paying the court fee for his cases.

Ramasamy whose full name is K R Ramaswamy, was instrumental in getting a ban on plying of motorised fish carts in the city in 2002 following which he was attacked by some miscreants, damaging one of his eyes.

Again, it was he who took up the case of unauthorised constructions in Chennai.

The Supreme Court had recently asked the Tamil Nadu government to demolish all unauthorised constructions, including some famous textile shops in the city. The apex court then remarked: "Chennai has become a unlivable city due to unauthorised buildings."

He had also challenged the state funding for a feature film on the life Periyar E V Ramasamy, a social reformer. The Rs 95 lakh subsidy given to the film could be utilised for some development work, he argued. When no advocate came forward to argue his case, he personally appeared. But some lawyers attacked him on the court premises itself.

He had now taken up a case for banning autorickshaws on major bus routes to decongest the traffic. He thinks that the recent attack on his office was by some autorickshaw men, who thought that their livelihood would be affected if he won the case. "But I am not going to stop my efforts," he said.