Coimbatore : Coimbatore was one among the 26 cities selected under the "Accessible India Campaign" in 2015 to conduct an audit of 50 Government buildings and make them differently-abled friendly by July 2016. Three years later, Government buildings in Coimbatore are well on their way to becoming accessible and differently-abled friendly.
Coimbatore : Coimbatore was one among the 26 cities selected under the "Accessible India Campaign" in 2015 to conduct an audit of 50 Government buildings and make them differently-abled friendly by July 2016. Three years later, Government buildings in Coimbatore are well on their way to becoming accessible and differently-abled friendly.
The Regional Transport Office was the first to become accessible and now work is under process at the Commercial Tax Office and District Collectorate. The buildings will have Braille sign boards, tactile flooring, ramps, hand railings and modified toilets. The Public Works Department is undertaking the renovation work at all these buildings.
Speaking on this, a senior PWD official said, "All these buildings are renovated under the 'Accessible India Campaign' by the Department of Empowerment of persons with disabilities. The Central Government has allocated funds for the renovation of these buildings. Rs 1.79 crores has been allotted for the old building of the Collectorate and the new building at the Collecterate will cost Rs.3 crores. Rs 2.72 crores has been allotted for the Commercial Tax Office. The renovation at RTO is t cost Rs.70 lakhs."
The Supreme Court in February 2019 passed a directive which said that all Government buildings providing any service to the public ought to be made fully accessible to people with disabilities, by June 2019, as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. Following the directive of the Tamil Nadu Government, Chennai kick-started the renovation work followed by Coimbatore.
The State Government also has plans to amend development control regulations to implement ‘Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Differently-abled persons.' Once this regulation is implemented, any building that is not physically-challenged friendly will not get approvals.
In Coimbatore, the next Government building to become differently-abled friendly will be the Sub-Registrars office at Perianaickenpalayam, at a cost of 70 lakhs.