Hi all, Rajiv and I gatecrashed Chennai airport 2 days back to check on accessibility issues of the new terminals planned as part of expansion.
Latest media report had pegged the opening of the domestic terminal in 6 months if the power situation doesn't worsen. We were unaware of any previous attempts to ensure accessibility in the Chennai Airport expansion so we were not very hopeful about civil work accommodations at this nth stage. We were lucky to meet Mr. S. Bhaduri who is the Executive Director (Projects) and in charge of completing this project. Briefly this is what was discussed / decided apart from the usual generic accessibility features<http://www.scribd.com/doc/81664585/Accessibility-Inputs-For-Chennai-Metro-Rail> : - A note with specs of civil-work related accessibility features to be submitted in a week - *if anything ready-made is available could you please email the same? Would save a lot of time and energy.* - A site visit in April 1st week after place has been cleaned up. *Anyone in Chennai who wants to join in could you please link with **Dhana*<[email protected]> - Flooring planned is natural granite - *Anyone who has experienced slip resistance issues with this flooring, could you please share inputs?* - Curbside assistance - *No kiosk has been planned so far - he has okayed reserved seating to be added for this purpose and wanted specs for the same including signage etc. I for one, am a little unsure of what exactly people mean by curb-side assistance. Can anyone help?* - Telecommunication devices for the deaf - *He was interested in this and wanted more information. Said had mentioned that a TTY phone is present in Mobility Bangalore. Is any airport equipped with this as yet? What has Indian experience been with this so far?* - Evacuation procedures were discussed by way of refuge areas.* Further information needed. We need to start from scratch as this is a completely neglected area of disability policy currently - there needs to be a national ongoing initiative on this.* - 1 Walkalator, 7+2 additional aerobridges planned - (Incidentally he said that ambulifts at Chennai airport = 1+2. They are owned by Chennai airport but the leasing charges agreements have not been signed by airlines who want a better deal.) - Integration with Chennai Metro - *he is checking on the accessibility of the connecting areas* *Next stops : * 1. Whoever is in charge of *airport operations* - for logistics issues 2. *Bhadra - ground handling agency* for passenger bus accessibility and other equipment. *If anyone has an idea about whether ground handling extends to HR related passenger services do let us know as we have not yet read the 2007 regulations. If the Federation of Indian Airlines loses their appeal, it would make training far more simple with less players involved.* 3. *Govt bus corporation* to ensure connectivity of accessible buses to Chennai Metro Rail & Chennai airport *P.S.* Perhaps the representatives of the sector who inputted into the 12th Five Year Plan can incorporate disability / accessibility specific points of action in the MoCA annual RFD<http://civilaviation.gov.in/cs/groups/public/documents/document/moca_001309.pdf> . Would give all of us concrete targets to achieve in a year. Other airport expansions / construction are mentioned in the RFD - in case anyone wants to take action regionally. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EMAIL OVERLOAD? Choose digest email in your deliver settings instead. --- Archives @ https://groups.google.com/group/flight-wethepwd/topics --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "We the PwD of India...ON AIR TRAVEL" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/flight-wethepwd?hl=en Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
