Team Herald
PANJIM: The Town & Country Planning Department has pointed loophole on the accessibility in the cities while emphasising the issue should not just restrict to smart cities.
“Cities have already been planned without considering issues of accessibility (.) (It) should be required to have a retrofitting for accessibility. We should not just concentrate on smart cities for accessibility but other cities as well,” Chief Town Planner S T Puttaraju said while addressing a one-day conference to discuss issues of accessibility within the Smart City Panjim Mission on Friday.
He further stated that even if agencies and authorities work on policies which are implemented for the benefit of making spaces accessible, the success of the whole endeavor also depends on how people receive it and at times that could require some amount of educating people on this need in order to effect a change in mindsets.
The conference organised by the State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities, Government of Goa, in collaboration with National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities (NCPEDP) focused on discussing the requirements and parameters for smart cities to become truly inclusive and accessible to the differently-abled and exploring ways to draw the convergence between the Smart Cities Mission and Accessible India Campaign for which Panjim has been selected.
Putturaju opined, “Disabilities are not just those inabilities that one has from birth. It can arise at different stages in a person’s life. The definition can sometimes be broadened to include the elderly population as well.”
State Commissioner for persons with disabilities Anuradha Joshi emphasised on the importance of inclusive planning while Commissioner of the Corporation of the City of Panjim Ajit Roy said that it was time to sit and derive solutions with regards to issues affecting accessibility. “Stakeholders and authorities should have clearly defined roles and efforts should be coordinated,” he added.
Experts from the field of planning highlighted the importance and parameters of a barrier free city. Ravi Koulag of CISCO spoke on smart city focus areas for accessibility, citizen engagement, urban mobility and safety, smart parking solutions, bringing government services closer to citizens, among other points. He also stated that most urban services are getting enabled by technology and the data which is collated helps to enable agencies and administration in their decisions towards addressing issues around accessibility.
