Should not even plan a public building without providing access for the physically disabled: HC

Pointing out that it is imperative that all public building including court houses must have access for persons with disabilities, the Madras high court on Monday sought for a detailed report from the State about the Status of public buildings across the State while reminding the State that no building could be sanctioned or constructed or even planned without providing access to persons with disabilities.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy before whom a plea moved in this regard came up, said “The State authorities more particularly the Public Works Department (PWD) officials should be acquainted with the Governing statutes and National Building Code (NBC) to ensure that the mandatory instructions therein are adhered to without any exception.” 

Also pointing out that the Status report filed by the State does not indicate the measures taken or the number of buildings that were accessible for persons with disabilities has been provided, the bench directed the State to file a comprehensive report about the extent to which public buildings in the State have been enabled access to persons with disabilities including installation of toilets in the ground floor for use by such persons. 

Granting two months for the filing the report, the bench posted the plea for further hearing to September 01, while directing the State to include the audit report about compliance in adhering to the mandatory requests. 

The chief Justice during the hearing also pointed out that during his visit to at least five lower courts in the state, barring one which had ramps, none of the other courts were disabled friendly.