Times of India:
NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Bombay%20High%20Court> on Wednesday directed the state government to allow free access to a team of petitioners and experts from Indian Institute of Architects<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Indian%20Institute%20of%20Architects> (IIA) to all government buildings in the city to explore possibilities of making then friendly for the physically handicapped. The court's direction came on a plea filed by P N Andhare, a disabled scientist from the city, through his counsel Trupti Udeshi who is also physically handicapped. A division bench comprising justices Sharad Bobde and Mridula Bhatkar granted two weeks more to the government to file a reply on whether facilities for disabled could be constructed at Vasantrao Deshpande hall and social welfare department. The team will visit every government department and look for the facilities for disabled persons. It will also suggest how facilities like ramps could be erected there. The petitioner, who is 80% disabled, had filed the PIL through an NGO Indradhanu praying for compliance of Maharashtra government resolution of 2005 which mandated facilities for disabled. Secretary of Indradhanu Prakash Sohoni is another petitioner. According to the duo, local authorities including Nagpur Municipal Corporation<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/search?q=Nagpur%20Municipal%20Corporation> (NMC) should make efforts to implement byelaws, guidelines and measures to ensure a barrier-free environment and non-discrimination in transport for the handicapped and senior citizens. Giving examples, Andhare and Sohoni pointed out that social welfare department was on second floor in Zilla Parishad building and there was no provision of lift. Moreover, in the renovated government buildings including Deshpande Hall, no efforts were made to incorporate ramp or railing to benefit the disabled. Pointing out several lacunae on the roads and footpaths, the petitioners claimed they were laid in such a way that it became difficult for both the disabled and the elderly to move while encroachments on all footpaths created obstacles in movement. They contended that despite Lokayukta's recommendations, the master transportation plan for the city had no provisions for disabled ________________________________ Notice: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this email by error, please notify us by return e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any attachments. The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Reserve Bank of India accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. Voice your thoughts in the blog to discuss the Rights of persons with disability bill at: http://www.accessindia.org.in/harish/blog.htm To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
