The Bombay High Court (HC) on Wednesday, January 3, has criticised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its negligence towards the need of wheelchair users.
The court questioned the thoughtlessness of the civic officials on not maintaining appropriate gap between bollards on walkways, which obstructed the mobility of wheelchair users.
BMC had earlier assured the Bombay HC that it would keep a gap of 1 meter between two bollards; however, the process has been overseen by the officials.
The court's attention was drawn to this issue through a public interest lawsuit initiated by Shivaji Park resident Karan Shah, who uses a wheelchair since childhood due to type III muscular atrophy. He highlighted the problems caused by the bollards.
After hearing Shah's concerns, the bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Arif ordered the civic body to address these issues.
In response to this, BMC's representative, Senior Counsel Anil Singh, informed the court about a new sidewalk policy, which was regulated on May 26. It aimed to make walkways more accessible for wheelchair users. However, this would also allow selective bikes to enter the area.
Therefore, a one-meter (39.37-inch) buffer shall be kept between two bollards. Given that the average wheelchair spread is just over 22 inches, there would be wheelchair accessibility too.
Furthermore, Singh shared that the BMC is conducting a city-wide survey of walkways. So far, 12 out of 24 wards have been inspected. He assured the court that the spacing between bollards would be increased to at least one metre to improve accessibility.
The high court also asked the BMC to file an affidavit listing the steps taken to address the accessibility issue. It also ordered that the officers face consequences for oversight.
The next hearing on the matter will be held on February 7.
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