Now, a Braille guide to Kolkata pandals

Braille guide to help them reach venues, ‘visualise descriptions’

A pandal made with glass bottles in Kolkata. The Brailled guide will vividly describe the decorations at various pandals.

A Braille guide for the visually impaired, alongside a route map, may make Durga Puja much more inclusive this year.

Working over a period of time, it has now become possible to make available vivid descriptions of the various pujas in the city while also printing route maps that would enable a visually impaired person or groups of such people to reach certain puja pandals (mandaps).

“We had done a pilot project at a pandal last year and we will do it for 10 major pandals this year,” said Debojyoti Roy, secretary of NIP, an NGO which has executed this initiative.

He said around 300 pujas had been mapped using the Braille system, charting out the closest railway station, bus routes and metro stops, to enable the visually impaired reach a proximate point. “Usually after that, there is always someone to help them navigate their way through the crowd,” said Mr. Roy.

Visually challenged Sumita Roy, associated with the 75-year-old Blind Persons Association, welcomed the initiative, saying that this would enable them to participate in the festival.