IMPORTANT POINT
People with disabilities should not be viewed only as ill, different from their non-disabled peers, and in need of care.

JUDGMENT :

A.K. Sikri, J.

The petitioner herein, who is a visually disabled person, is resident of Gurgaon (now ‘Gurugram’) and works in Delhi with a human rights organisation. He has filed this petition in public interest on behalf of the disabled persons (though better expression to describe these persons is ‘differently-abled persons’) for proper and adequate access to public places. In particular, this petition seeks providing all accessibility requirements to meet the needs of visually disabled persons in respect of safe access to roads and transport facilities. It is stated in the petition that there are sixty to seventy million disabled persons in India and almost 50% thereof suffer from visual disability. The fundamental concern of these visually impaired persons is safe accessibility to movements on footpaths and accessibility to roads and transport. It is stated in the petition that internationally acceptable mandatory components of physical accessibility are the following:

a. Safety: the environment must be such where disabled people can move around safely.

       b. Independence: the environment must be such where disabled persons can use the facilities independently.

c. Affordability: the barrier free or accessible environment should not come with a premium.

d. Logical layout: the environment must be such where disabled persons are able to navigate without too much physical exertion i.e. not having to move to the length and breadth of the building to access information or make use of the facilities [Based on a paper by Sunita Singh titled ‘Accessibility Issues’ in book called ‘Disability Management in India – Challenges and Commitment’, edited by C.S. Mohapatra and published by the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).].

2. As per the petitioner, physical accessibility when translated vis-a-vis road and transportation facilities for the benefit of visually disabled persons would imply the following features:

MEASURES IN RESPECT OF ROADS:

a. Installation of auditory signals at every red light so as to aid visually disabled persons to cross the roads safely. This signal emits a series of sounds, which would indicate the opportune time to cross the road.

b. Construct zebra crossings at a slight incline so as to aid in guidance to visually disabled persons and to enable them to navigate along this raised safe passage of zebra crossings. This slightly raised level wo9uld indicate the course of the zebra crossing to visually disabled persons, who would be able to sense the slight level difference with the aid of their walking stick.

c. Insert guiding blocks in zebra crossings so as to aid in guidance to visually disabled persons and to enable them to navigate along with safe passage of zebra crossings.

d. Placing warning blocks along the edges of the pavement or footpath so as to denote a level difference between the road and the pathway and to ensure the continuity of the pathway. Warning blocks refers to a standard cement block, such as is used on pavements and footpaths, consisting of a series of small blisters on them so as to warn visually disabled persons wherever there is a gap in the pavement, a level difference or to indicate the point where the pavement or footpath ends and a road or a zebra crossing starts.

e. Providing for unobstructed footpaths with minimum hindrances in such manner so as to leave obstacle-free walking areas in a straight line on the footpath at either left or right edges of the footpath.

f. Placing guiding blocks on pavements and footpaths so as to aid visually disabled persons in directional guidance. Guiding blocks are constructed on the same lines as warning blocks, the only difference being that while warning blocks consist of blisters made on a block, guiding blocks