With ramps, city bus stops to be disabled-friendly

The metropolis is set to become friendlier to differently-abled people as the Greater Chennai Corporation has decided to incorporate disabled-friendly features at the city bus stops.

A Chennai Corporation official said the Transport department has proposed a pilot project to operate a disabled-friendly bus facility in Tiruvanmiyur–Tiruvottiyur route. “Following the proposal, the Chennai Corporation has been asked to create facilities for the differently-abled. Based on this, bus stops on the route will be retrofitted,” the official added.

The Tiruvanmiyur–Tiruvottiyur route has as many as 90 bus stops. The civic body has to create disabled-friendly facilities at those bus stops.

The official explained that the bus stops will have a ramp-like entrance instead of steps. “Ramps will be created at the bus stops so that persons with disabilities can board the buses easily. We are taking up works at 4 bus stops out of the total 90 immediately,” he added.

The four bus stops include the Mylapore Tank bus stop on Ramakrishna Mutt Road, Dr MGR Janaki College bus stop on Durgabai Deshmukh Road and Clive Battery bus stop on Rajaji Salai. Based on the pilot, the civic body will create similar facilities on other routes. The civic body would spend more than Rs 1 lakh for each of the short-listed bus stops.

On the other hand, the official pointed out that some of the bus stops on the selected route have space constraints. “We will have to address the shortcomings while designing the bus stops,” he said. It may be noted that the civic body has floated tenders, a few days ago, to create a permanent pathway for the persons with disabilities at Marina Beach. The pathway will come at a cost of more than Rs 1 crore.

R Sathish Kumar, a differently-abled person, while welcoming the move, demanded the authorities to make all the facilities accessible, instead of select bus stops alone. “Rather than creating facilities and adding disabled-friendly facilities later, the authorities should address the issue at the planning stages,” he opined.