If you travel in Usman Road, T.Nagar (Chennai) from South to North you will encounter three under-bridges to cross the suburban (electric) railway line. The under-bridges run East to West (perpendicular) to Usman Road, are called in local parlance as Subway(s). They are Aranganathan Subway (near Saidapet), Madeley Subway (near T.Nagar bus terminus), Duraisamy Subway (near Panagal Park). Being a resident of the area I was curious about the origin of their names. Today that’s what I did with the help of Chennai’s own heritage writer Sriram V and Karthik Bhatt.
- Aranganathan Subway was named the DMK volunteer Thiru.Aranganathan, who lost his life by self-immolation for Hindi agitation cause.
- Madeley Subway was named the British Engineer Mr.JW Madeley who was Special Engineer for Waterworks and Drainage under whose supervision most of the drains in Madras were laid
- Duraisamy Subway was named a famous eye specialist Dr Duraisamy
Incidentally, Usman Road got its name after Governor Sir Mohammed Usman.