Team Herald
PANJIM: Acting on a complaint from a Panjim resident, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Guruprasad Pawaskar issued a notice to Chief General Manager of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) and the General Manager of M Venkata Rao Infra Project Pvt Ltd asking them to appear in person or by duly authorised agent or pleader on February 18, at 11 am in its office at Porvorim
They have been asked to submit an affidavit and the plan of Smart City works to adhere to the guidelines and provisions as laid down under the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.
The complaint on Raj Vaidya, a Panjim resident, has sought direction from the commission directing the IPSCDL to comply with the guidelines of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and Rule 15.1 (a) of RPwD (Amendment) rule 2023, harmonised guidelines and space standard for universal accessibility in India 2021 in respect to ongoing work of the Smart City in Panjim violating Section 40, 42 and 45 thus read with Section 2 y and Section 3 of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.
Earlier, IPSCDL had said submitted before the Commission that all the ongoing works, which are not in line with the harmonised guideline, are done by the assigned contractor and will be corrected and compiled by May 31, 2025. It submitted that an accessibility consultant will be appointed for the project to ensure that accessibility guidelines are followed and executed.