BENGALURU: Nearly a year after the Mysuru railway station became the first in the country to put in place facilities for the visually impaired, the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna railway station in Bengaluru is all set to emulate it.

The same non-governmental organisation that made it possible in Mysuru will be implementing it in the City too.

Speaking to Express, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Bengaluru Division, N R Sridharamurthy said, “We have entered into an agreement with the Anu Prayaas Trust to install all the required infrastructure. It will be in place by November.” There will be no cost incurred by the Railways as a sponsor has come forward to support it, he said.

Divisional Railway Manager, Sanjiv Agarwal, said, “This is a small way through which we can support the lives of the visually-impaired.” 

Founder of the Trust, Pancham Cajala, said that four major facilities will be provided in Bengaluru in the initial phases. “Similar facilities for the Mysuru station were declared open on November 3, 2015. We are keen on ensuring these facilities reach a larger number of the visually impaired, particularly in a bustling place like the KSR railway station.” The infrastructure has been planned after consultations with the National Federation of the Blind in Bengaluru and detailed discussions with countless ‘blind friends’ across the State, said Cajala, the former Head of Corporate Social Responsibility activities at Infosys. The most useful of these would be the numerous small Braille Platform Indicators that would be embossed in the railings leading to all the ten platforms of the station. It would indicate directions to reach platforms and will be in both Kannada and English Braille languages. “The objective is to ensure that the visually-impaired can navigate the railway station on their own,” Cajala said.

A tactile map that would be a blueprint of the railway station would be imprinted at a prominent location at the station to help those with visual impairments understand the facilities available, he added.

An itinerary booklet in Braille that would provide a list of all trains leaving the station and their destination, would be made available at the counters. “Another useful aspect would be that braille copies of the menu available at all food courts in the station would be provided.”

Manufacture of all the required materials have already commenced. “A real estate concern, Altius, is sponsoring the whole venture,” the founder added. The initial phases of the work could cost around `5 lakh.
Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/City-railway-station-to-become-visually-impaired-friendly-soon/2016/10/01/article3634176.ece