Access ‘denied’: Most public places in Visakhapatnam not disabled-friendly, say challenged persons

‘The All Abilities Park, which was designed for us, is not maintained and most importantly is not at all friendly for the visually-challenged, as there are no audio-visual aids’

On October 10, 2007, India had ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The convention not only prescribed certain rights of the challenged persons but also laid down certain rules, regulations and designs to make all public places accessible to them.

The city of Visakhapatnam has been designated as one among the smart cities in the country, but is the city friendly towards the challenged persons?

Well, the persons with disability say that it is not and a lot needs to be done.

Speaking to The Hindu, Sai Padma, who is a challenged person and has been the voice fighting for the rights, says that most of the public places right from the parks to beaches and from educational institutions to the cinema theatres and for that matter even the hotels are not friendly for the challenged.

“The All Abilities Park, which was designed for us, is not maintained and most importantly is not at all friendly for the visually-challenged, as there are no audio-visual aids,” she said.

Suresh Menon, who is doing his post-doctoral research at Andhra University, says that the newly-constructed VMRDA Park (VUDA Park) is friendly to a certain extent but he has no access to any other parks, including the famous Lumbini Park, beside the VMRDA Park. Even temples and many of the government offices are not friendly for us, he added.

Moreover, he says that post the signing of the UN Convention, AU has built ramps in every department with railings, but they are steep and he has to be helped by at least two persons to go up and down the ramp.