While hearing a suo motu PIL petition about hindrance that bollards cause to wheelchair users, the Bombay High Court asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday not just to remove the defects but also to take action against the contractors and “unmindful” officers.
The suo motu petition was initiated last year on the basis of an email sent by Karan Sunil Shah, who highlighted that the bollards at the entrance of footpaths in Mumbai, though installed with the salutary objective of ensuring safety, had rendered them inaccessible for wheelchair users. Rubber Wheel Chocks Harbor Freight
Shah had attached with his email photographs showing that the distance between the poles is so less that it is impossible for a wheelchair to pass through.
Senior advocate Anil Singh, representing BMC, submitted before a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor that the civic body had formulated a new footpath policy on May 26, 2023, taking into account the needs of the disabled people.
As the policy has already been adopted, BMC authorities have to follow it meticulously, the bench noted in its order.
When confronted with the photographs attached with the Shah’s email, Singh submitted that a survey was going on in all wards to see if there are discrepancies in the installation of bollards and that its report was being prepared. If any discrepancy is found, appropriate steps will be taken to fix it, he added.
The bench then adjourned the matter and asked the BMC to file a detailed affidavit on the implementation of the footpath policy, the survey report and steps taken to fix the defects so that the disabled and elderly people will get universal access to the footpaths.
“See to it that if such things are found, you should not only remove defects but also take actions against contractors and officers involved in supervising the work. How can BMC officers be so unmindful? It is not that BMC has not spent money or that BMC has not put up bollards. The contractors and officers involved should be taken to task,” Chief Justice Upadhyaya remarked and posted the next hearing to February 7.
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