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Dude, where’s my pavement
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Society As the UN convention on rights of persons with disabilities comes into force, will it halt the pandemic of pedestrian deaths in the city? Serish Nanisettitakes a walk
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Missing pavement Pedestrians are turning road users with disastrous consequences
It is an eight-lane road but without a pavement. There used to be a pavement, but it no longer exists for citizens who live near the Somajiguda circle. It has been taken away for the third rung of physical security of concrete divider for the Chief M
inister. Then there is a roll of concertina wire ready to be unspooled if protestors reach it. Heard about Baghdad’s Green Zone? This one resembles that with two watch towers, of course one is built on the footpath.
“With rows of jewellery shops and malls, this ought to be the place with pavement where people can stroll leisurely during their shopping. No such luck. Negotiating this segment of traffic is a nightmare as the vehicles zip almost touching you,” says a woman IT employee who works in the Pulla Reddy building. The four-lane section narrows into a two lane with two lanes and the pavement kept within the CM’s camp office.
Add this bit of statistics and priorities become clear nearly 2000 pedestrians have died on the city roads over the past four years. Till March 31, 145 pedestrians have been mowed down on the city roads, another 400 will die before the end of the year as pedestrian spaces disappear for important things.
“People are not just dying due to lack of footpaths, they are also put to a lot of inconvenience,” says Ashok from Tolichowki who finds it extremely difficult while taking out his 5-year-old son with whose motor coordination was affected after a bout of cerebral encephalitis. Sometimes, he is forced to physically carry the child while his wife helps him with the pram. Now, for people like Ashok there is a ray of hope. On May 3, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into force. The convention’s Optional Protocol, which is binding on signatory countries, and allows individuals to petition an international expert body with grievances.
“Persons with disabilities have routinely suffered discrimination in the job market, in schools and in receiving public services. This Convention will make sure that these people will no longer be ignored,” Akiko Ito, Chief of the Secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has been quoted as saying.
So, the next time an engineering student with disabilities is asked these questions (earlier reported in this paper):
“How will you climb the stairs when the lift goes out of order?”
“What will you do if you are stuck in a traffic jam?”
He would know what to do.
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Non-discrimination Act-1995
■ Installation of auditory signals at red lights in the public roads for the benefit of persons with visual handicap.
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Causing curb cuts and slopes to be made in pavements for the easy access of wheelchair users.
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Engraving on the surface of the zebra crossing for the blind or for persons with low vision.
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Engraving on the edges of railway platforms for the blind or for persons with low vision.
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Devising appropriate symbols of disability.
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Warning signals at appropriate places.
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More information on the convention’s Optional Protocol can be had from: kuwonu@un.org; or nyce@un.org.
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