Delhi Metro is one of the most disabled friendly public transport systems in the country.
City transportation plays a key role in experiencing the world. Nikhil, Gajendra and Goldy come with us for a ride on the Delhi Metro, one of the most disabled friendly public transport systems in the country. The three have spinal cord injuries. Gajendra fell from a tree, Goldy was in a bike accident, and Nikhil in a swimming pool accident.
Though they have no power in their fingers, they have trained themselves to operate their manual wheelchairs and are regular users of the metro. They find the metro accessible but say it would be better if the metro coaches had ramps and easy to use seat belts.
Nikhil Kumar, who is a senior quality assurance engineer at Oracle, said, "In many places, there is too much difference between the platform and the metro door. So we have to lift up our wheelchair. Sometimes wheelchair users get assistance and sometimes they do not. We three are trained but not all wheelchair users are able to do that on their own."
The designated wheelchair spaces are in the ladies coach.
"We get the maximum space in the ladies coach and it helps since we can get the back support we need. The problem is that we are not allowed to travel in the ladies coach some times. The guard asks us to get up from the wheelchair to check whether we are actually disabled or not. There is no awareness about the fact that if someone is on a wheelchair, he cannot stand up," said Nikhil.
The accessibility needs are different for different disabilities. 22-year-old Anmol, a student at the Noida Deaf Society, is happy with the LED visual signals on coaches. He communicates that the metro is convenient for the hearing impaired.
The Delhi Metro has braille buttons on lifts and tactile tiles to guide the visually impaired. But we notice tactile tiles missing at the platforms of a couple of metro stations.