12/3/21, 3:58 PM No lift-off for BEST’s wheelchair-friendly buses one year on - The Times Of India - Mumbai, 12/3/2021 https://epaper.timesgroup.com/olive/odn/timesofindia/printarticle.aspx?doc=TOIM%2F2021%2F12%2F03&entity=ar00609&ts=20211203005152&uq=2… 1/2 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF DISABLED PERSONS No lift-off for BEST’s wheelchair-friendly buses one year on Nitasha Natu & Somit Sen Mumbai: Are BEST’s wheelchair-accessible buses really ‘friendly’ for differently abled individuals? Can they alight and exit buses with ease? On the eve of International Day of Disabled Persons, which falls on December 3, a city activist set out to find out exactly this with a test drive on one such bus in the western suburbs. Jasmina Khanna (49), who lives with cerebral palsy, found that merely having a wheelchair lift on a bus does not help unless the staff is trained to operate it and the bus stop is also universally accessible. Armed with findings of her ‘audit,’ she plans to meet BEST’s general manager, hoping to bring about change. About a year ago, the undertaking had introduced 26 air-conditioned electric buses with a hydraulic lift for differently abled passengers. BEST has since increased its fleet to 100 and has future plans to expand to 340. “Before the Covid-19 outbreak, I had to hire a special cab that could accommodate my wheelchair to commute the 8 km from home to office every day. It used to be very expensive,” said Khanna, a software tester by profession. “Now that offices have reopened, I decided to check if the accessible buses run by BEST are true to their name,” she said. On Thursday afternoon, Khanna and her physiotherapist, Sanket Khadilkar, reached Goregaon bus depot for a short commute up to Andheri. The first challenge before them was an inaccessible bus stop outside the depot. Khanna waited on the road as the bus stop had a short concrete barrier on all sides with no opening for wheelchair access. There was no signage on the bus stop to indicate that accessible buses stopped there. A couple of crowded buses simply passed by. At least two buses that halted had nonfunctional wheelchair ramps. The driver of the third bus agreed to lower the ramp. He tried unsuccessfully for 10 minutes till a bystander intervened and explained how it was done. Once inside the bus, the safety clasps that keep a wheelchair in place couldn’t be fastened. “I had to hold on to Khanna’s wheelchair the entire time to prevent it from sliding off,” said Khadilkar, adding that not more than one wheelchair can be accommodated at a time on these buses. Signage was missing inside the bus, as were announcements about the next halt. At the Andheri depot, where the journey terminated, it took another five minutes to open and shut the hydraulic lift. “In case the lift hadn’t functioned in the automatic mode, the driver did not know how to use the manual mode either. We found the driver to be patient and willing to learn, but there is a lack of training,” observed Khanna. A BEST panel member told TOI that it was ‘embarrassing’ for the undertaking if its staff was unable to operate the wheelchair lifts. 12/3/21, 3:58 PM No lift-off for BEST’s wheelchair-friendly buses one year on - The Times Of India - Mumbai, 12/3/2021 https://epaper.timesgroup.com/olive/odn/timesofindia/printarticle.aspx?doc=TOIM%2F2021%2F12%2F03&entity=ar00609&ts=20211203005152&uq=2… 2/2 It may be recalled that in 2004, the Bombay high court had pointed out the lack of disabled friendly public transport systems in the city. After the court order, BEST introduced five ultra-low-floor buses in 2005. But they faced frequent breakdowns and were prone to flooding during monsoons. The BEST committee subsequently cancelled further purchase of low-floor buses in 2016. Activist Jasmina Khanna on a test drive of BEST’s wheelchair lifts ›Stem cell therapy not magic cure for autism, P4
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