
CHENNAI: Despite efforts by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to repair damaged footpaths and install handrails across the city, accessibility remains a challenge. Many wheelchair users and people with visual disabilities struggle owing to the lack of disabled-friendly features such as tactile paving on footpaths, kerb ramps, and well-placed bollards. Exacerbating the situation are encroachments, kerb parking, and poorly designed pathways.
At Nandanam, near the Government Arts College, the footpaths are covered with debris and encroachments. “My walking stick often gets caught in the damaged pathway, and I have fallen multiple times,” said Arangarajan, a visually impaired professor at the college.
“Metro stations have proper tactile indicators, making commuting easier for people like us. But government-maintained footpaths, which we rely on daily, lack such features. Around 100 visually impaired people use this pathway daily to reach the college. But there are several obstacles like sugarcane juice machines, trees, or poles on the footpath,” he said.
Sathish Kumar, a wheelchair user and member of the Disability Rights Alliance, pointed out that there are no kerb ramps and owing to the difference in height between the footpath and entrance of low-floor buses, wheelchair users have to get down on the road.
He added that the existing ramps at bus stops are too steep to use without assistance. “Even when we manage to get on the footpath, we are uncertain if a ramp will be available at the exit, so we continue on the road.” As GCC plans to install continuous railings on the footpaths, he suggested it could be replaced with properly positioned bollards. “Continuous railings will restrict pedestrian movement in between the pathway.”
On Velachery 100ft Road, footpaths are encroached upon by pushcarts and parked vehicles. In T Nagar, shops occupy narrow pathways, making pedestrian movement difficult. “The congestion worsens when two-wheelers use the path for driving, adding to the danger,” Blessy, a shopper said.
Pathways near the New State Guest House at Chepauk are also encroached by police barricades, reportedly stacked for VIP visits and used when needed.
A senior corporation official told TNIE that repair work has commenced on 33km of footpaths in the city. “The newly constructed footpaths are designed to be disabled-friendly,” the official said.