Experts, activists, and MTC present reports before the Madras High Court
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court recommended counsel A E Chelliah says operating such buses is doable despite ongoing disputes between disability rights campaigners and the Metropolitan Transport Corporation over the purchase of kneeling buses.
The transportation administration previously informed the court that it could only operate 342 low-floor buses and not on all main routes that went through crowded streets, subways (which can flood after heavy rain), and roads where metro rail construction is taking place.
Disability rights advocates objected to this, therefore the court ordered a trial run that followed routes decided upon by the activists and MTC.
At the Palm Grove bus stop on route 26, a bus had to stop in the middle of the road as wheelchair users boarded and deboarded to allow for ramp entry can be unfolded, resulting in congestion.
Also, due to the narrow turning radius at junctions on Rajamannar Salai, Arcot Road, Alwarthirunagar, and Lakshmi Nagar, buses found it difficult to turn. When entering the Adambakkam terminus on route 14M, the front section crashed to the ground. The PIL’s author, Vaishnavi Jayakumar, claimed that there was no distinction in the width of low-floor and high-floor buses. Consequently, there is no added difficulty caused by the corridors’ breadth. According to attorney Chelliah’s analysis, only 20% of drivers on diverted highways struggled at tight turns. Seven of the ten buses that can be run during rush hour, he noted, can have low floors. All ten may be low-floor buses after construction on the metro rail is finished.
