Speak up Delhi: Capital city still far from being called differently-abled friendly

A recent affidavit filed by Delhi government's transport Department brings to light that out of 1,690 bus queue shelters (BQS) in the Capital, only 960 are differently-abled friendly. Making commuting for the differently-abled person on DTC difficult.

The affidavit has made it clear that national Capital may be on the verge of being called the smart city, but surely it is still far from being called differently-abled friendly.

The court had asked the state government about the number of differently abled bus queue shelters during the hearing of a plea by a resident Nipun Malhotra, who had challenged the Delhi government's decision to procure two thousand standard-floor buses. Malhotra argued that these standard-floor-buses would not be wheelchair friendly making about 2.34 lakh differently-abled people unable to use the buses.

"Only 960 out of 1,690 BQSs were found to be disabled friendly. DTIDCL will now take necessary steps to make all bus stops disabled friendly," said the Delhi government's transport department in their affidavit before a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao.

However, the affinitive made it clear that the bus queue shelters are not so differently-abled friendly, making DTC buses virtually out of reach of the differently-abled citizens.

"What is the use of a public service when only a selected section of the public can use it? It is disappointing that after so many years, we are unable to make the mode of transport open to everyone," said Megha, a journalism student who use DTC buses for daily commute.

Many argue that the increased use of bus queue shelters to generate revenues has been another reason for these BQS to be inaccessible for the differently-abled citizens. Most of the BQS's one side gets blocked due to the advertisements stuck on poles. The absence of the audio system to announce bus number are the biggest issue for differently-abled citizens.

The improper height of BQS, lack of audio system and brail font guidance are some basic problems that differently-abled person face on these BQS. Moreover, many argue that the slope to climb BQS for wheelchairs is mostly at a long distance.

Although transport department claims to have been working on the bus shelter's and their new designs, the question remains that even after so many years of the DTC, why has the lifeline for Delhi's local transport forgotten its citizens.

While the government's plan to procure standard floor buses has been stayed by the high court, the differently-abled citizens may hope to see more low-floor buses, which may allow wheelchairs to board easily.

THE SHORTCOMINGS

The improper height of BQS, lack of audio system and brail font guidance are some basic problems that differently-abled person face on these BQS.

VOICES

I once saw a blind person asking people to help him take bus no. 473, as he was to travel from Lajpat Nagar to Badarpur border. Few boys tried playing a prank on him by making him board the wrong bus. I hope the government make every bus queue shelter differently-abled as soon as possible.
—Shiksha Sharma, 20, Student

Seeing the state of facilities for differently-abled one can say that there is a need for very strong measures to be taken to make sure that everyone can avail the public services.
—DP Goel, 61, Resident, Noida

We used to travel by DTC on a daily basis during our college days, but seldom we saw a differently- abled boarding the bus. The only reason I see is that neither the buses nor the bus queue shelters are differently-abled friendly.
—Akshay Arora, 21, professional

Every time I see someone struggling in the world just because he/she is differently-abled I feel guilty. We are responsible to make sure that our society treats everyone equal and for that, we need to make sure that our facilities are up to mark or else the gap would only widen.
—Vimlesh Pradhan, 46, RWA, Noida sector 108

Although I have not travelled much in DTC buses, the way the buses and bus queue shelters look, I do not think that even the general public can use it with comfort.
—Prachi Chhabra, 20 Tourist

The question about proper facilities for differently-abled has been raised many-a-times but nothing much has been done. The government must make sure that this time differently-abled citizens get their rights.
—Sharad Jha, 40, RWA, Ghaziabad

EXPERT SPEAK

Provisions for the differently-abled citizeness in public services, has been a must for long. However, the government have been ignoring the demands. The affidavit filed by the government in high court has made it clear that DTC has been out of reach for most of the students. Moreover, nowhere in Delhi, you would see any BQS having brail description of the buses or any other essential information.
—Bipin Tiwari, Dean, Equal Opportunity Cell, DU