The Hindu : New Delhi News : Disability rights' group suggests changes in new bus shelters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 22, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Disability rights' group suggests changes in new bus shelters

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: To make the 197 upcoming new bus queue shelters -- for which the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has given the contract to European advertising firm J.C. Decaux -- disabled-friendly and as good as the model barrier-free shelter constructed by Delhi Transport Corporation at Hauz Khas Terminal recently, disability rights group Samarthya has suggested a number of measure. These include keeping the height of the shelters at 38 cm to make them compatible with low-floor buses operating under the High Capacity Bus System.

After the first steering group meeting on Thursday, where Samarthya made its suggestion, Europe's leading outdoor advertising company J.C. Decaux decided to visit the model shelter at Hauz Khas on April 26 to incorporate the changes. Since the design has not been finalised yet, there is hope that the suggestion would be kept in mind to make the new shelters accessible to all -- especially since the contract would run for a period of 15 years. There is also a sense of urgency regarding the matter as the construction work would start in June and would be completed in just four months.

"We have suggested that the height of the bus shelter be made 380 mm and to approach the bus shelter there should be a ramp on both sides with handrails at two levels and textural or tactile clues for persons with vision impairment. Further, there should be a demarcated space under the shelter for two wheelchairs, Braille plates with the name of the bus shelter and routes in Hindi and English, and audio beepers for orienting blind persons," said Anjali Aggarwal of Samarthya.

As for the clock to be placed in these ultra modern stainless steel shelters, Samarthya has demanded that these also have audio information. Since these shelters will also have telephones, the coin insertion slit has been asked for at a height of 120 cm.

Likewise, it has sought priority seats with pictograms for senior citizens or persons with reduced mobility and disabled persons. Space has also been asked for turning of wheel chairs and proper display of timetable. As in the case of the Hauz Khas shelter, it has been suggested that the new bus shelter have a bright colour contrast for those with low visibility.

"In the case of the new shelters one encouraging feature is that they are 9 metres wide as against the old ones which used to be just six metres long," said Sanjeev Sachdeva of Samarthya, adding that this would provide more space for all in the shelter. However, while the NDMC shelters are being constructed at a cost of about Rs. 23 lakhs each, the one at Hauz Khas had cost not even Rs. 2 lakhs.

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