PIL in HC complains about metro stations not being physically-challenged friendly

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NEWS STATES TAMIL NADU
TAMIL NADU
PIL in HC complains about metro stations not being physically-challenged friendly
Legal Correspondent
CHENNAI 22 AUGUST 2020 00:41 IST
UPDATED: 22 AUGUST 2020 01:06 IST

CMRL directed to reply in four weeks
The Madras High Court on Friday sought the response of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to a plea to make all its metro stations physically-challenged friendly. Vaishnavi Jayakumar, co-founder of mental health NGO, The Banyan, had made the plea in public interest.

Justices M.M. Sundresh and R. Hemalatha granted four weeks to CMRL to file a comprehensive counter-affidavit to the PIL. Advocate Jayesh B. Dolia took notice on behalf of the CMRL after stating that the stations were already physically-challenged friendly.

However, in her affidavit, Ms. Jayakumar asserted that the existing metro stations had been built in violation of the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016, and that CMRL was continuing to design and build new stations in utter violation of the law.

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The litigant lamented that public transport system in the city remained far from being universally accessible, despite enactment of legislation such as the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of 1995.

She said making the transport system universally accessible would enure to the benefit of not only the physically and mentally challenged but also senior citizens, pregnant women and people suffering from temporary mobility issues.

The petitioner pointed out that metro stations in the city lacked several key structures or features such as anti-reflective flooring contrasting with the wall colour and non-slippery floors in wet or dry conditions with a resistance of 40-70.

Similarly, there were no wheel-chair accessible ticket counters with audio induction loop for users of hearing aids. Accessible kiosks for the visually challenged and wheel-chair bound passengers and sliding doors for toilets were also absent. Accessible parking, tactile and high contrast way finding, universally designed safety and evacuation equipment, high contrast signage, displays, information tools and controls with multimodal communication were also lacking in the stations.

Ms. Jayakumar sought a direction to CMRL to make all its stations comply with the harmonised guidelines and space standards for barrier-free built environment for persons with disabilities and elderly persons issued by the Union Ministry of Urban Development in 2016.

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