Disabled-friendly facilities will be created in 6 weeks: CMRL

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that it will take steps to provide differently-abled friendly facilities and approachable physical structures will be made within six weeks in all the CMRL stations.

The CMRL’s standing counsel made this submission before the first bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N Mala. The bench was hearing a plea filed by Vaishnavi Jayakumar, an activist working for the welfare of the physically challenged people.

The petitioner submitted that the CMRL did not provide any facility in a disabled-friendly way and ramps, and other such structures in the CMRL stations.

“Metro railway stations constructed and being constructed by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) are not in compliance with mandatory accessibility standards under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act and Rules – they are neither universally designed nor accessible to people with disabilities, as required by law, ” the petitioner submitted.

The petitioner further submitted that the Union Ministry of Urban Development issued detailed guidelines for designing buildings disabled-friendly and ensure universal access and the same was violated by the CMRL.

“The interests of disability-inclusive public procurement and accessible urban development as indicated in the Department of Expenditure’s 2019 manual of Public Procurement of Works, and given the wasted effort earlier, CMRL’s active participation of disabled people in the design and procurement process would be integral to ensuring compliance with the Harmonised Guidelines, Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ratified by India in 2007,” the petitioner said.

Reacting to these submissions, the CMRL assured the court that it would take steps to provide disabled-friendly facilities in all metro rail stations within six weeks, following which the case was adjourned.

The petitioner alleged that CMRL violated the guidelines issued by the Urban Development ministry for designing buildings