CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has suggested the auditing committee members to inspect the metro rail stations built during Phase-I to find out deficiencies in providing easy access to persons with disabilities (PwD) and also make suggestions for the Phase-II project.
“It would be appropriate if the auditors visit the metro railway stations, and if they find any deficiencies, can give suggestions to the respondent and also place it before the court,” the first bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said on Friday.
The bench also said the auditors can put forward suggestions for the new Phase-II metro rail stations. The court wants the respondent to place a status report on this by March 27, 2024.
The direction was given on a petition filed by Vaishnavi Jayakumar, an activist working for the rights of the persons with disabilities, seeking the Chennai Metro Rail Corporation (CMRL) to make the railway stations easily accessible to the PwD in accordance with the universal accessibility rules.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted the railway stations were not made disability compliant despite the court has passed orders in this regard in 2016 and 2020 and stated that large-scale deficiencies still exist.
However, the counsel for the CMRL submitted 85% of the work, as suggested in the audit report, has been executed.