The Hindu : New Delhi News : `India needs law to suit differently-abled, elderly persons'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 17, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

`India needs law to suit differently-abled, elderly persons'

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

International transport experts arrive in Capital for meeting on "Mobility for All"

NEW DELHI: With Delhi all set to the take the lead in making the world's first user-approved disabled-friendly bus shelter, international transport experts visiting the Capital for a meeting on "Mobility for All" are of the view that the country needs a legislation and a statutory authority.

This would ensure that all new colonies and cities are tailor-made to suit the needs of not only the differently-abled but also the fast growing population of the elderly in the country.

According to the co-chair at the TRB Committee on Accessible Transportation and Mobility, C.G.B. Mitchell, there is an urgent need to enact laws for having roads that are not only friendly for the disabled but also the pedestrians, who constitute about 40 per cent of all the travelling population the world over. "If the pedestrian infrastructure is improved, it works to the benefit of all.

If the sidewalks are designed in such a way that they allow unfettered movement to wheel-chairs, then they will also be very easy for movement of pedestrians, cycles and even shopping trolleys and baby-walkers."

Noting that he did not find much of a difference on Delhi's streets since his last visit to the Capital in 1988, Mr. Mitchell said, "the need of the hour are policies, not just platitudes as has been shown by Sweden which is the most disabled-friendly country in the world".

In the United States, the enactment of the American Disabilities Act, 1990, was a turning point and it helped in ensuring statutory compliance of various norms on road and building infrastructure which helped in providing barrier-free access to the disabled, Lalita Sen of Texas Southern University said.

With the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 being finalised and Delhi being the guiding light to other cities in the country, Ling Suen of International Centre for Accessible Tranportation, Canada, said the time to bring about the changes is now.

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