The tourism dept of Kerala has launched the project, which aims to make both public and private spaces disable... Read More

Beaches, especially the Shanghumukham beach, used to be the all-time favourite spot for 34-year-old Ashla Rani , a volunteer for Pallium India, Trivandrum. But an accident that happened six years ago left her permanently disabled and confined to a wheelchair. The quadriplegic had to give up her passion for beaches as no beach in the State is disabled-friendly. Not for long, though. Access to Kerala’s fabled beaches will no longer be a dream for the differently-abled like Ashla, as the state Tourism Department has come out with a declared policy to initiate barrier-free tourism in the state. The policy, introduced by the present tourism director P Bala Kiran , seeks to ensure that all the facilities at the various tourism hotspots as well as parks, hotels and beaches are disabled friendly. And this time around, it looks like the project will materialise, as Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran declared in an assembly sitting that any new project will get approval only if it ensures access to people with physical disabilities.

Not just tourism spots, but public spaces too will be made barrier-free

Though the policy basically aims at making tourist spots disabled friendly, it focuses on ensuring smooth access for them to various public spaces too, says tourism director P Bala Kiran. “We want them to travel across the state with dignity, without having to deal with social stigma. Besides being an example of responsible tourism, the project is a first step towards making our city easily accessible for the physically challenged and the elderly. No construction will be sanctioned unless the infrastructure is disabled friendly. However, before issuing guidelines to private enterprises, the government needs to set examples for them. So at present, we are auditing the spots that are to be made barrier-free, across the state. We have around 500 spots in our State including beaches where everything, from parking to toilet facilities is to be made disabled-friendly.”

As per the proposal issued by the tourism director, around 1.3 crore domestic tourists and 10.7 lakh foreign tourists arrive in Kerala every year. Out of these, 10 percent belong to the disabled or elderly category, who encounter barriers in tourism facilities in the State. “The project intends to make the outdoor mobility of all those with various disabilities in the existing tourist parks and destinations convenient and safe by providing them vertical and horizontal wheelchair friendly ramps, adequate signage in braille, sanitary facilities and accessible lifts. We may not be able to do it everywhere, like in places which already have difficult access. But we have adopted an approach where we try our best to provide equal accessibility to all, across our facilities,” he adds.

Taking a leaf from Kannur

The present project is being launched with reference to ‘barrier-free Kannur’, a former project implemented in Kannur in October 2015. The `18.5 crore project, a brain child of Bala Kiran who was the then collector in Kannur, had made the government offices in the district barrier free. Bala Kiran says, “2,800 government institutions in the district were made barrier-free — police stations, the collectorate, various government offices, schools, hospitals, post offices etc. We also ensured railings on the ramps, grooved tile surfaces for the visually challenged and display boards in braille script. The successful project got widespread attention and national recognition through the President's medal. Now as I have moved to the Tourism Department, I wish to implement the mission here also. I welcome other departments also to join in and make our state a role model for others in enabling a disabled friendly society.”

Let’s enforce the ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities’

While the officials of the Kerala State Handicapped Persons Welfare Corporation welcome the project, they point out that it should not be confined to tourism spots only. Nazzim S, its state programme co-ordinator says, “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) which mentions that they can enjoy equal rights, according to the Supreme Court’s order to ensure that private and public spaces be made barrier free to them, but it is neglected. It is good that a specific government department is taking an initiative to make the State disabled-friendly. It would be more effective if we have a social audit in which any individual can spot a space to be made disabled-friendly and bring it to the government’s notice. Even our office situated in Poojappura doesn’t have a disabled-friendly lift or a wheelchair ramp, so we have to go downstairs and meet the disabled people to help them. Though we have given a proposal for the same, things are lagging. This initiative from the tourism department must accomplish a complete spot audit before implementing the project”.

The ultimate aim — make the disabled independent

Vimala Menon, writer and secretary of Thiruvananthapuram Cheshire Home registered with the Social Justice Department Govt of Kerala, says that the accessible tourism project will be a first step to help the disabled to go out and enjoy life like normal people. “How many builders keep the disabled in mind when they design a building? Let this set off a change in the mentality of the people. That said, it is high time that the government made public offices including banks friendly to the physically challenged community too. It is not a favour to these people; they are also part of our society. I remember an instance once, when Stephen Hawking visited India. He wished to see the Taj Mahal but the ones who guided him had to inform him that the tourism destination is not disabled friendly and so he could not go there. Let it not repeat in our society.”

Meanwhile, people like Ashla Rani feel that the project would help the local community travel independently. “It is hard to explain how it feel when you can’t visit a favourite spot, only because you are a disabled person. We don’t have a barrier free society and that makes us withdraw from socialising. Vayyengil enthina vanne..veetil irunna pore… has been the clichéd response I have been hearing for the past six years from concerned hearts. I am not sick; but the disability is termed as vayyayma by society. I wish to see the sunset from a sea shore and stroll through the sands. I hope this project will fulfil the wishes of people like me,” signs off Ashla

