HYDERABAD: IF paying Rs 2 and Rs 5 for using urinals and toilets respectively at the Metro stations might have irked you after shelling out Rs 45 travelling between Miyapur to Ameerpet, many toilets continue to be dysfunctional, especially, for persons with disabilities. For many commuters, the second day after the inauguration of the Metro Rail was to analyse and realise the trade-off of having a relatively expensive ride compared to other public transport services in Hyderabad in terms of the facilities accessible.
But, on the services front, the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) still lags behind. Take the SR Nagar station where the toilets for the persons with disabilities were closed for most part of the day. The same was the case with Ameerpet, Begumpet, and Bharath Nagar Metro stations. While the reason given by the sub-contract agency which facilitates cleaning in the Metro Station stated a blunt reason, ‘they didn’t come, so we didn’t open’, at other places, the toilets are yet to be unlocked.
In fact, the key interchange Metro station Ameerpet has no guiding arrows(on the floor) pointing to where the car’s doorway halts. The same is the case with Begumpet, Prakash Nagar, and a few other stations “I will have a tough time to walk across the platform without proper indications. The personnel will help us but how long will be the question.
I will surely wait for a little while before making conclusions on the facilities,” said Raghava Reddy, a commuter. “The tactile tiles are yet to be placed,” says a Keolis ‘May I Help You’ personnel guiding at the Begumpet Metro Station. We have just begun, we might soon have it, she added. Surprisingly, the station also fails to have tactile tiles to guide the visually impaired persons into the Metro car. When the findings were shared with the L&TMRHL officials, they said that it has just been two days since the Metro started and we are starting to align our operations. “Give us some time to make the services available,” said an L&THMRL official.