NDMC roads to be made disabled-friendly by 2019

New Delhi: On the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Accessible India Campaign’ (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan),  the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will make all roads under its jurisdiction disabled-friendly in the next two years

A senior NDMC official told this newspaper that by 2019, all 132 roads covering 180 km will be made disable- friendly. The roads will be more helpful for the disabled as mandated in the PM Modi’s Campaign’.

To make roads easily accessible to Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), the NDMC will be engaging a consultant who will conduct a comprehensive study and identify measures needed to convert its roads into disabled-friendly. “To provide a conducive environment, measures will be taken to remove barriers on footpaths, and obstacles that block the path of pedestrian traffic. And to achieve the target, the NDMC has taken steps in the direction and by 2019 will make its all roads easily accessible to all,” said a senior official.

The initiative is part of department of empowerment of persons with disabilities’s ‘Accessible India Campaign’ for achieving universal accessibility for persons with disabilities.

The process for appointment of consultant has been started and based on its finding, steps will be taken to make NDMC’s roads disabled-friendly.

Consultants will identify obstacles and barriers currently exist on the NDMC’s roads and suggest the changes required to make them friendly.

“One knows that to make roads disable-friendly, we need specially designed ramps and footpaths. But to know the exact requirement on each roads and footpath, the NDMC is going to conduct a comprehensive study with the help of consultant. Based on the finding of study, necessary changes will be done,” he added.