Incredible, but Hardly Barrier-free

BHUBANESWAR: Arvind Prabhoo, Nishant Khade, Sunita Sancheti and Neenu Kewlani share a common dream. Travel across ‘Incredible India’ in 81 days and assess how friendly the country is for the differently-abled as part of their ‘On the Wheel Campaign’. The wheelchair-bound ‘adventurous four’ love travelling and will take this opportunity to spread the message to make India a barrier-free country for their brethren. The team embarked on the journey on September 28 from Mumbai and would be touring 28 states and 40 cities covering 16,000 km by road. Accompanying them are their eight caretakers and as many drivers.“We are undertaking this journey not just for the people who use wheelchairs but for those with other disabilities and  the elderly who are confined to their homes because the state governments do little to make public spaces accessible to them,” said Prabhoo (43). He has been confined to the wheelchair after a car accident when he was just around 20. A survey report with detailed notes, photographs and videos will be presented to the Tourism Department, chief ministers, disability commissioner and the Indian Tourism Development Corporation of each state, said Prabhoo. The campaign is being undertaken under the aegis of Vijay Merchant Rehabilitation Centre for the Disabled, Mumbai.  On completion of 61 days of their   journey, they reached Odisha on Sunday to carry out an access audit. After visiting Puri and Konark, they arrived here on Monday. They visited Puri Jagannath temple, Konark besides Udaygiri and the Rajarani temple in the Capital. Though they expressed satisfaction at the accessibility to Rajarani temple, at Puri Jagannath Temple and Konark they had to face harrowing time despite the temple administration’s 2009 announcement to open the doors to the physically-challenged persons on wheelchairs. So far so good, with mixed feelings from the places they have so far visited. “India is truly incredible, but hardly barrier-free,” they signed off. The team will leave for Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.