BENGALURU: With Bangalore Metro Rail Project Limited (BMRCL) repeatedly saying trains and stations would be disbled-friendly, City Express decided to do a reality check.
Express reporter Aishwarya Ravi accompanied Karnataka Rajya Bennuhuri Apaghatada Angavikalara Sangha representative T Seetharam on the Metro.
Starting at Kempegowda station, the they stopped over at Vidhana Soudha, BR Ambedkar Junction, Cubbon Park, MG Road, Trinity Circle and Indiranagar, before finally alighting at Baiyappanahalli.
Their experience in the reporter’s words:
The stations are equipped with special terminals for security check and token scanning and dropping for the specially-abled (though no signs alert conmmuters of these), lifts and ramps at the entrance and exit. Braille buttons — at a height accessible from a wheelchair too — and grooved yellow tiles guide the visually challenged.
We found that a wheelchair is also available on request. The terminals have a special parking facility for the disabled.
While at the Kempegowda and MG Road stations, guards helped the disabled of their own accord, at all other stations we made stops at, we found help was available on request.
Arun Kumar, a guard at the Kempegowda station not only helped Seetharam get on the packed train, but also halted it until he settled down at the spot behind the driver reserved for those on wheelchairs. This, I heard later from other disabled commuters, is rather rare.
Later, when we got off at Cubbon Park, the station controller was willing — on prior request — to also help the disabled cross the road with a divider running along it.
A major drawback in the largely disabled-friendly set-up is the gap between the train and platform. Moreover, unless it is brought to the guard’s notice, they would find it difficult to board or alight from the train during the peak hours. Trains usually stop for about 30 seconds.
Access to the station in a central spot like MG Road is a problem: despite having ramps at the entrance, the footpath just outside is raised. And if one has to get across the road, the divider/barricade becomes an additional hurdle.
This station, which opened in June 2010, has no lift to Platform 2. “We sent BMRCL a notice about this and the gap between the train and platform one-and-a-half years ago, but there has been no progress,” Nagendra Kumar B N, General Secretary of the Sangha, had said earlier.
As for washrooms, the you have to climb a step at the Vidhana Soudha station.
“It is hard for me to get into the toilet and close the door. The space is too little and my wheelchair does not fit in most toilets, except the ones in the MG Road station,” said Seetharam.
At the Kempegowda station, the washrooms are still under construction. This might pose problems to commuters with health issues like spinal cord injury and diabetics who need to go to the toilet frequently.
BMRCL Speaks
Ravi Kumar, the executive assistant of BMRCL, said planks can be arranged on request to board and alight from the Metro. “Ticketing counters and swiping booths have been designed to ensure the easy movement of those on wheelchairs. We also have special lanes for the disabled in the stations,” he added.
What the disabled need
The speech-and-hearing-impaired have problems in communication if they are illiterate than people with other disabilities. A sign language facility should be provided.
— Nagendra Kumar, Gen Sec of Karnataka Rajya Bennuhuri Apaghatada Angavikalara Sangha
During the peak
hours, it is hard to find assistance. If the guards are not friendly, boarding the train is a nightm are — Rashmi M T, Karnataka Rajya Bennuhuri Apaghatada Angavikalara Sangha