Inaccessible footpaths plague Indian city

From The Times of India:

CHENNAI, India -- Special pavement for the physically challenged by the Chennai Corporation' reads the sign on a wall on Ranjit Road in Kotturpuram.

Anbarasan, a person with physical disability, looks at the sign and laughs. Pointing to the condition of the footpath just below the sign, he assures this reporter that even a normal person would find it difficult to walk on it.

Where do you see footpaths nowadays in Chennai anyway? And even if there are footpaths on certain roads, they are not really walkable' - either their condition is bad like the one on Ranjit Road or they are occupied by human beings, animals or non-living things. For people with disabilities, it is particularly hard. The do not feel confident walking on such footpaths and even if the roads are in better condition they do not use them due to the heavy traffic.

"All street pavements should be disabled-friendly. While laying footpaths, universal norms should be followed, such as having slopes at the beginning and end, removal of obstacles in the middle and having enough space for a wheelchair," says Meenakshi Balasubramaniam, disability legislation unit, Vidya Sagar (formerly the Spastics Society of India, Chennai).

Meenakshi says that it is mandatory to have disabled-friendly platforms on all the roads in the city. "We approached the Chennai Corporation for laying such pavements. They put one on Ranjit Road some years ago, where our school is situated, but its condition now is bad. No one uses it."

Sankeertana, a physically challenged student, explains that several times she has found it difficult to get down from pavements. "Some of the pavements are very high. I cannot walk on the road because of speeding vehicles. There is no proper disabled-friendly infrastructure in the city," she says.

N S Venkataraman, trustee, Nandini Voice for the Deprived, an NGO, feels that the government must consult physically challenged persons before deciding on anything concerning them. "One disabled-friendly pavement has been laid in front of the Chennai Corporation but that is not enough. Lack of such pavements elsewhere in the city is a major problem for the disabled," he says.

Mayor M Subramaniam says the corporation plans to have pavements on all roads being laid in the city. "Steps will be taken to renovate the Ranjit Road pavement soon," he assures.