or Ketan Kothari, it feels like the city conspires against him getting anywhere. He is visually impaired, and has to deal with constricted— and badly-maintained—footpaths, illegally parked cars, unregulated traffic and noise. “The horns especially make it really hard,” he says, “Visually-impaired people depend on auditory clues to navigate.” And all this is even before he gets to a bus or a train station, neither of which are disabled-friendly.
Nilesh Singit, who has cerebral palsy and uses crutches or a wheel chair, has similar issues: “If it’s difficult for a normal person to find space on footpaths, think about what it's like for somebody who is disabled.” Singit has made it a personal battle; seven years ago, he filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court to make suburban trains accessible by wheelchair. Nothing has resulted yet, and for him, the only way to get around the city is with the help of few sympathetic taxi drivers.
Today, our Prime Minister will launch the Accessibility India campaign, under which the government aims to convert 50 per cent of all its buildings in state capitals into ‘fully accessible’ structures by 2018.
It will also undertake to gradually do the same for international airports and major railway stations. The campaign is a start in evolving a national action plan. But, as any person living with a disability in Mumbai will tell you, the idea of truly having access to the city, and of being able to live a normal life here, requires measures that go far beyond.
India is a signatory to the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which obliges member states to make all indoor and outdoor facilities—roads, modes of transport, hospitals, etc.—barrier-free. But, from a policy perspective, India’s thinking on disability hasn’t advanced. Currently, the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, when speaking of accessibility, defines public spaces simply as government buildings and public transport.
A new law, The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, drafted and approved in 2013, covers all workplaces, educational institutions, hospitals, private organisations and societies. However, it is yet to be passed in Parliament.
Dr Mithu Alur who runs Adapt (formerly the Spastics Society of India), explains that, globally, thinking on disability has moved toward a model which thinks of the environment as dysfunctional, not the individual: “This acknowledges that what really makes a person disabled is the outside world around them that doesn't allow them to participate.”
In terms of physical access, experts say Mumbai still rates very poorly. Abhishek Ray, an architect who designs inclusive environments, says that this is a twofold problem: one, the space crunch the city faces makes it hard to alter existing structures; and two, government departments are seldom on the same page when it comes to building utilities.
He says, “You have a situation where the railway, the municipality and the BEST each follow a different code for building, so it’s hard for everything to come together to build an accessible environment.” Over the past few years, there have been some examples of buildings and public spaces being made access friendly. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, for example, is equipped with ramps and hydraulic lifts, and has Braille signage.
Similarly, malls built by private developers, such as the Infiniti mall in Malad, are similarly well equipped as are newer flat complexes. More often than not, it’s a question of whether individual developers want to take the initiative.
In all our spaces, public, private, and the routes between them, much needs to be done.
Related:
>How technology can step up and make a difference for the disabled
>Korean startup joins dots for the blind>
>Opinion: A thin boy in a wheelchair
