Despite repeated attempts by Delhi University officials, the North Campus remains largely inaccessible for differently-abled students. With around 1,500 students with disabilities studying here, accessibility remains a major concern.
The university’s Equal Opportunities Cell (EOC), which has written to the civic authorities often, recently got an audit conducted in the area with help from the Public Works Department to analyse accessibility. The PWD, however, is yet to act on the findings of the report.
“I have been writing letters to the civic authorities and the Delhi government in order to take action on the findings of the audit report, but nothing has been done so far. The last reply I got from the government was in April this year when they promised that action will be taken soon,” said Bipin Kumar Tiwari, officer on special duty at the EOC.
“There are structural and design issues in how North Campus is constructed. It does not provide free access to students with disabilities. For example, a footpath is not supposed to be more than 150 mm in height, but most footpaths in the university area are 450 mm. Also, the ramps meant for easy movement of a wheelchair are broken at many places. The tactile pavers are misguiding, sometimes they lead to trees and manholes,” Mr. Tiwari added.
The broken ramps, inaccessible footpaths and misguiding tactile pavers force students to walk on the roads, adding to the difficulty.
A student of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), who uses a motorised wheelchair, said: “The footpaths are just not accessible. They are broken at many points and ramps are not constructed properly. Most importantly, there is no space on the footpaths for a wheelchair to move. People park vehicles on the footpath and obstruct it.”
What adds to the problem is that North Campus is not a closed campus and sees unrestricted vehicular movement. Though Delhi University had installed a machine at traffic signals, which would beep as a signal for the visually-challenged students when the red light came on, motorists ignore the path meant for those with disabilities.
“After the report put forth its findings, we suggested to the PWD that the campus be made more disabled-friendly. We had suggested that orientation signages be provided for all public amenities and kiosks, audio signals be installed at crossings, hawker zones be planned in a better way and not allowed to obstruct the path. We had also suggested that heights of the footpaths be lowered,” Mr. Tiwari added.
The MCD had upgraded roads in the university during the Commonwealth Games, but these were handed over to the PWD in 2013-14.
A senior PWD official said: “We are aware about the issue and are committed to correcting the shortcomings. We have already worked on a sample stretch of 300 meters and shown it to university authorities. We are now thinking of going ahead with the plan. The work is seeing delayed to departmental issues.”
