Chennai:
What do Jones Road, Madeley Road, Ellis Road, Nowroji Road, Fraser Street and Captain Baker Street have in common?
All six roads are in different corners of the city, but they are united by one factor. All expect Nowroji Road were named in honour of British engineers and civil servants who envisioned the civic infrastructure of Madrasapattinam.
Madeley Road at Mambalam was named after British engineer J.W. Madeley who arrived in Chennai at the age of 19 at the turn of the 20th century and revolutionised the concept of an organised drinking water system in the city before he returned home in 1932, earning the name ‘Father of Madras Drinking Water Distribution System’ through the pioneering works he carried out in the interim.
‘Baptising’ of Ellis Road, connecting Anna Salai and Triplicane, dates back to 1818. A stone inscription on the ledge of the well at Periya Palaiathamman temple at Royapettah tells how the then Collector of Madras Francis Ellis dug 27 wells to overcome acute drought way back in 1818.
Retired engineer Meenakshi Sundaram, who served 37 years since 1976 in the city’s drinking water networks, says, visionary British engineer Captain Baker dug 10 wells in Bethanayakhanpet (opposite Vallalar Nagar Street) and water was lifted, using piccota buckets and delivered through iron pipes, to British inhabitants in George Town in 1772, and hence, it is called Captain Baker Street which is in front of the Madras high court.
The Seven Wells near Mint actually had 10 wells. “Three of the 10 wells did not serve the purpose and hence the name, Seven Wells,” Sundaram added, quoting from the book, Madrasapattinam, by Narasaiah.
Likewise, Jones Road at Saidapet is a tribute to the first sanitary engineer of Madras, Mr Jones, who introduced Madras to laying drinking water pipes.
Harmusji Nowroji, an assistant sanitary engineer of Parsi origin, formulated a pipeline system conducive to the condition of the native soil. Independent India immortalised his contribution by naming a street after him in Chetpet.
A street in Perambur was named in memory of Engineer Frazer who constructed the Tamaraipakkam dam across Kosasthalaiyar and conveyed water from Red Hills through an open conduit to Kilpauk Masonry Shaft, which is still conserved as a monument in Kilpauk pumping station.