Central Square in Chennai is making news now for this important reason
Posted on: 06/Apr/2022 9:48:34 AM
Constructed at a cost of Rs 400 crores, the Central Square near Central railway station in Chennai is amazing. There are ramps in the Central Square that link to the metro station here. The issue is that those persons who are differently able and use wheelchairs would have to take a long way to get inside the station through the lift.
Member of DRA, Vaishnavi Jayakumar explained that the ramp was present for baggage strollers but the ramp that was constructed for those who use wheelchairs did not have handrails. It is now said that while constructing the Central Square the differently able persons have not been taken into consideration. It is true that bollards in the pavement near Ripon Buildings and Central Square still block wheelchairs. As per Sudha Ramamoorthy, another DRA member it was clear that from 22nd June 2022 old structures would be made accessible to the differently able persons.
Wheelchair persons find metro stations a bit more accessible than other modes of transport. Truth is that these people still depend on others to buy tickets and get onto the train. It was later mentioned by a wheelchair user from Tambaram that he switched from cab to metro trains but had to depend on someone for ticket and for access to entry point etc. He spoke about how after getting inside the metro train someone would have to help tilt the wheel chair. Point is that sometimes it would not be safe for wheelchair users as they would have thinner wheels that could get struck.
