Transport Commissioner C. Samayamoorthy on Tuesday told the Madras High Court that 24.42% buses operated by Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in Chennai had physically challenged friendly facilities such as lift mechanism, audio alert system and buzzer with switches to stop the vehicles in case of an emergency.

The submission was made in a status report filed before a Division Bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth who were seized of a batch of public interest litigation petitions filed by advocate L. Muruganantham in 2017 seeking better facilities for the physically challenged in all government as well as private establishments.

According to information submitted by MTC, Chennai to the Transport Commissioner, there were 3,676 government buses in the city. Of them, 10 were equipped with lift mechanism facility, 75 had audio alert system for the visually challenged, 400 were fitted with buzzers and switches and 410 with rings for holding canes used by the visually challenged.

A total of 895 buses had either of these facilities and therefore the percentage of buses with physically challenged friendly provisions worked out to 24.42% of the total fleet, he said. He also said that as per the guidelines of Union Ministry of Road Transport, a new bus body building code had been provided for the physically challenged passengers.

The code requires at least two passenger seats in mini buses and four passenger seats in other buses to be designated as priority seats for the physically challenged and provided with facilities such a buzzer switche and appropriate facilities to secure the crunches, canes, walkers and so on.

All Regional Transport Officers in the State had been strictly instructed to adhere to the code. “Moreover, it has been made compulsory to allot two seats for physically challenged in all existing buses plying in Tamil Nadu. It is being closedly monitored every year while issuing fitness certificates,” the commissioner claimed.

Mr. Samayamoorthy stated that instructions shall be issued to private schools in the State to allot one or two of their school buses for the exclusive use of the physically challenged. In so far as government buses across the State were concerned, he claimed to have issued suitable instructions to all transport corporations on December 14.

The transport undertakings had been instructed to prove route maps and schedules in braille at all bus stops apart from an exclusive ticketing area for the visually challenged. They had also been asked to modify the footboard of the buses so as to make them more accessible for the visually challenged, he added.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/25-of-buses-have-facilities-for-persons-with-disabilities/article26064379.ece