MTC will get 242 reduced ground buses out of 642 diesel buses and a further 100 electric powered lower floor buses out of 500 electric buses, states Transport Secretary
MTC will get 242 reduced ground buses out of 642 diesel buses and another 100 electric powered small flooring buses out of 500 electrical buses, claims Transport Secretary
The Madras Large Court docket has requested that all buses to be procured by the Condition authorities for community transportation have to conform to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016, the statutory principles framed under it in 2017 and the Harmonised Guidelines and Place Specifications for Barrier Totally free Ecosystem for Persons with Disabilities of 2016 issued by the Centre.
Very first Division Bench of Main Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala disposed of a community interest litigation petition filed by cross-incapacity legal rights activist Vaishnavi Jayakumar in 2021 with a direction to the authorities to also adhere to the orders passed by the Supreme Court on the issue on December 15, 2017 in Rajive Raturi versus Union of India.
The Bench acknowledged the submission of Advocate Basic R. Shunmugasundaram that the provisions of the 2016 Act and the 2017 policies would not implement to buses that were being procured before the law arrived into force and recorded his assertion that the government had no intention to flout possibly the 2016 regulation, the statutory regulations or the harmonised rules.
Ms. Jayakumar had submitted the PIL petition hard a Government Order issued on February 24, 2021 to purchase only 10% of minimal flooring buses. She argued that there could not be any tokenism when it arrives to common accessibility and that all government buses have to be designed otherwise abled friendly given that each physically challenged particular person experienced a right to accessibility.
In a counter affidavit submitted just before the court docket, Transport Secretary K. Gopal claimed all govt buses could not be produced minimal flooring buses at a extend thanks to poor street problems and the chance of rainwater getting into the buses. He mentioned that 37% of the new buses to be allotted to Metropolitan Transportation Company (MTC) in Chennai would be very low floor buses.
According to the Secretary, the authorities experienced made the decision to order new buses for transportation corporations throughout the Point out with economic assistance from a German bank. The procurement would be carried out in five spells and it had been decided to buy 2,213 buses in the very first two spells and MTC would be allotted 642 of them.
Of the 642 buses to be allocated to MTC, 242 (37%) would be small ground buses. Additional, it had been made the decision to order 500 electrical buses of which 100 low floor electrical buses would be allocated to MTC. He also reported that a technological committee had discovered the routes the place most range of physically challenged people travel in buses.
The committee comprised officers from the MTC, the Greater Chennai Corporation, Chennai Metropolitan Enhancement Authority, Director of Municipal Administration, Director for the Welfare of the Differently Abled and the Director Typical of Highways. It took be aware of a study getting concerning prerequisite of reduced flooring buses in distinct routes.
As for each the study, 55 minimal ground buses would be essential in Tiruvottiyur, Tondiarpet and Royapuram localities where by all-around 5,000 bodily challenged individuals use the public transport. Likewise, 31 buses had been expected in Sholinganallur, Adyar and Perungudi route, 28 in Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam route and 32 in Ambattur, Anna Nagar route.
Additional, it was located that 30 buses would be essential in Manali, Madhavaram route and 22 in Teynampet, Alandur route. During the complex committee meet up with, the MTC experienced put a ask for to modify 956 bus stops in Chennai city to make them available to the in a different way abled passengers and the committee also mentioned feasibility of conceptual bus cease alternatives.
Also highlighting the huge value difference in between standard buses and the reduced floor buses, the Transport Secretary advised the court that an common diesel bus expenses about ₹22 lakh while a lower floor diesel bus expenses around ₹90 lakh. He pointed out that the price of a very low ground electrical bus was roughly ₹1.5 crore.
Just after perusing his affidavit and listening to the arguments superior by the petitioner’s counsel as well the A-G, the judges stated their interference would be adequate to the extent of buying that the buses should really comply with the 2016 law, the regulations framed thereunder, the harmonised suggestions and the Supreme Courtroom orders.
