Make buildings meant for urban poor accessible to PwDs, says SCPD court

DIMAPUR— The court of the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD) has urged the department of Municipal Affairs, Government of Nagaland, to make the buildings constructed under Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme at Ruziezou, K Badze and Meriema in Kohima, accessible to the PwD beneficiaries by allowing them to occupy the space earmarked for them.

In a press release, the office of SCPD stated that its court had served a suo motu inquiry to the Municipal Affairs department regarding 5% reservation for persons with disabilities (PwDs) in housing schemes, after which its team led by Disability Commissioner Diethono Nakhro inspected the projects at the three locations on May 11 this year to check accessibility.

Nakhro was accompanied by department officials headed by Additional Director and HOD, Municipal Affairs, Solesul Tholre during the inspection.

The department stated that the ground floor of the dwelling units under the BSUP scheme would be converted to reserved category for PwDs. In view of this, the court of SCPD recommended the department to urgently implement and make it operational for the beneficiaries.

Recommendations to Municipal Affairs dept.:

• All doorways inside the BSUP units that are earmarked for PwDs be restructured to ease use of wheelchairs and other assistive aids.
• All such buildings and units be equipped with ramps and other necessary provisions for the ease of PwDs as per the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India 2021.
• Approach roads to all the buildings be paved and create accessible pathways inside the compounds wherever feasible. 
• All sewer lines and sanitary pipes that are inconvenient to the movement of PwDs be checked and rectified; remove such items in the toilets.
• To replace all Indian style commodes with Western style commodes and all raised platforms be removed. Install vertical and horizontal bars/grab bars/safety frames and hand bidets in every toilet.
• To ask the concerned authority whose materials are being stored in the BSUP buildings since the CoVID pandemic to remove all the things to facilitate its functioning at the earliest.
• All notices/notifications for PwD beneficiaries be published in electronic and print media and broadcast on radio and other local news channels as many do not have access to the concerned government departments or local panchayats to avail information.

The court of SCPD also asked the concerned department to implement its recommendations and submit an Action Taken Report within three months.