Chennai Metro: CMRL To Complete Barrier-Free Retrofitting Of Stations By May, Boosting Accessibility For Persons With Disabilities

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) plans to complete the retrofitting of Metro stations by May 2023.

CMRL officials stated that 85 per cent of the work needed to meet the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier-Free Environment for Persons with Disabilities-2016 had been completed in phase 1.

About 70 per cent of the retrofitting of restrooms for people with disabilities (PwD) with kerb ramps and tactile fixing has already been finished. The department is almost done with these repairs, including the Braille map.

“We expect to wrap up the work by May 2023. With the help of PwDs and members of the Disability Rights Alliance (DRA), we’ve taken all measures to make the infrastructure wholly barrier-free. After usage, we’ll make further necessary corrections if needed,” explained a CMRL official, reports dtnext.

Public Interest Litigation (PIL) Spurs Action on Metro Station Accessibility

The retrofitting action follows the hearing of a PIL petition filed in 2020 by cross-disability rights advocate Vaishnavi Jayakumar, who claimed that the CMRL had not built its stations in accordance with the accessibility standards prescribed by the 2016 Act and the statutory rules framed under it.

In September 2020, the Madras High Court ordered the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities to conduct an audit of all metro stations in Chennai.

In June 2022, the Madras High Court gave CMRL six weeks to make stations barrier-free. Since then, all city stations had experienced the progressive completion of the construction.

The CMRL started retrofitting stations in Phase 1 and made sure the same was done in Phase 2 stations as per the High Court's directive.

Subsequently, a number of PwDs and members of DRA have also been closely following the construction projects alongside the CMRL authorities.

The list of retrofitting works, according to DRA, included changing the kerb ramp, tactile at drop off to lift, at the beginning and end of the ramps, at the beginning and end of the staircase, and at the beginning and end of the escalators.