Bengaluru resident's post on finding wheelchair accessible housing goes viral

The resident shared the challenges of living with disability in India.

A Bengaluru resident's post on how difficult it is to find a flat for a wheelchair user is opening many eyes on the internet. The resident, Mrunmaiy, took to social media and micro-blogging site 'X', saying that she was recently asked to vacate her flat in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru has witnessed a spike in rental demand over the last year, leading to frequent discussions on the ease of finding accommodation in the city. (Shutterstock/ Representational image)

“So few weeks back my landlord informed us that we need to vacate the apartment where we have been living since I moved to Bangalore. Six years ago we were blessed to know that my workplace is in a campus that also has residential apartments, mall, hospital, school etc. The fact that we had to pay higher rent than nearby buildings, was an easy compromise,” she wrote.

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“Being a wheelchair user, this meant I did not have to travel on the road to get to my office every day. I did not have to go to the ordeal of being lifted and shifted into a cab in the absence of accessible vehicle. But now, finding another wheelchair accessible apartment and a house in the last few weeks has been a difficult journey. It's alarming to know that many brokers and homeowners think that a couple of steps can be passed off as accessible,” she posted.

She further shared that her motorised wheelchair weighed 130 kilograms, and that she cannot be lifted along with it. She also shared the woes that come with narrow bathroom entrances.

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“In many Indian apartments, the door of the bathroom is extremely narrow. No surprises, that being a quadriplegic, I take my bath also in a wheelchair. Hence, the door of the bathroom has to be at least 25 inches wide for me to get inside along with my shower-wheelchair. Some bathrooms have a wash basin as soon as you enter, and some have the commode, blocking the entrance. In some cases there is a huge wardrobe right outside the bathroom door, making manoeuvring my way inside the bathroom difficult,” she shared.

She finished the thread with, “In some apartments the lift/ elevator was so small that it could not accommodate me + my wheelchair and my caretaker together. My choice of apartments is now limited to big gated communities, that charge a premium rent. Sharing my experience here on X just to sensitise you all about the importance of #accessibility, and challenges of living with a #disability in India.”

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Her post garnered over 66,000 views at the time this article is being written and also got several replies, with an internet user writing, “Puts things into perspective. Would never have thought about bathroom layout as such a huge hindrance - something that one takes for granted. Hope you find something suitable soon.”

Bengaluru has witnessed a spike in rental demand over the last year, leading to frequent discussions on the ease of finding accommodation in the city.