Audit to find how disabled-friendly Delhi is delayed

The Delhi government’s public works department (PWD) was told to conduct the accessibility audit in April and the completion target was June 30. But work on the audit, mandated by the courts, began only this month.

A study to find out how disabled-friendly are Delhi government buildings and the city’s roads has been delayed by more than two months and its findings are unlikely to come out before December.

Work on the audit has been delayed by more than two months. Findings unlikely to come out before December. (HT File)

The Delhi government’s public works department (PWD) was told to conduct the accessibility audit in April and the completion target was June 30. But work on the audit, mandated by the courts, began only this month.

The PWD constructs Delhi government buildings, including offices, hospitals, schools, among others.

“Planning took some time as it is a mega audit, probably the first in Delhi. We are handling this in a different way. We are not hiring one consultant for the entire audit. Instead, we have divided the audit zone-wise. Consultants are being hired for every zone. Our architects and the engineering team will assist in the process,” said RK Agarwal, engineer-in-chief, PWD.

As of now, the department has floated only two tenders to appoint consultants. The first tender for south zone was published on September 6 and the second was issued on Wednesday for IP Estate.

The Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016, mandates all private and government institutions and establishments to ensure barrier-free spaces and services for differently abled .

The minutes of a government meeting held in May stated, “All buildings are to be audited for providing full accessibility to differently abled persons. All superintending engineers should ensure tenders for the same have been called and the audit is completed by June 30 along with preparations of estimates for the same.”

After the audit, the PWD will have to conduct a renovation drive to make all government buildings and roads owned by it disabled-friendly.

The minutes stated that work to make such infrastructure fully accessible should be completed by the end of this year, as directed by the Supreme Court and Delhi high court. But PWD officials said the auditis likely to take three months, only after which it would be able to begin rebuilding .