Delhi's Monumental Blunders

Published 17 March 2007 in Hindustan Times by Aasheesh Sharma.    

(Click here to read from source)

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) wants the Red Fort included in the list of the 26 World Heritage sites in the country. The hype surrounding the restoration of Humayun’s Tomb just seems to be never-ending. And now the ASI is brandishing its plans to make the Qutub Minar disabled friendly with ramps and braille signs.

On the ground, however, access for the disabled remains a distant dream. Would we like another World Heritage site that promotes an unjust world? Accompanied by orthopaedically challenged access expert Shivani Gupta of Access Ability, an organisation that provides accessibility and employment solutions for persons with disabilities, HT on Saturday visited the city’s prominent monuments.

The Red Fort is the biggest instance of barriers being put for the disabled, literally and metaphorically. If the parking on the other side of a congested road, far from the entrance, doesn’t deter them, the metal barricades at Lahori Gate don’t encourage a wheelchair user either. With a staircase leading to a level below sans ramps, the ticket counter is disabled unfriendly. The high window at the counter doesn’t help either. Once you’ve negotiated the fortress-like security, you pass through a row of shops selling curios. Braving the March drizzle, assisted by a colleague, Gupta he makes her way to the Khas Mahal, but her hopes of appreciating the nuances of its architecture are dashed.

“The only ramp installed at Red Fort to help the disabled reach the marble platform has been kept at one side. Its steep gradient and slippery surface would have been a problem in the drizzle, perhaps” surmises a tourist guide who doesn’t want to be named.

At the Qutub Minar, which promises to go disabled friendly in a few weeks, the condition appears to be better, albeit marginally. The ticket counter also has a window at a lower level, which a wheelchair user may access. But the approach to the counter is paved with cobbled stones, which could enhance the distress of rheumatic patients, informs Gupta. A ramp close to the main entrance has a steep gradient. “Ideally, the height length ratio (which would allow a disabled person to manoeuvre his or her wheelchair with dignity and without losing balance) is 1: 12,” says Gupta.

The situation is worst at Humayun’s Tomb, a World Heritage site identified by UNESCO. Restoration of water bodies and manicured gardens is one thing. Caring for the disabled quite another. The absence of a ramp to reach the main mausoleum is glaring. Even more glaring is the lack of signage. A person on a wheelchair has to enter about 500 metres into the monument without any guidance. “How does one know whether it is accessible or not and from what point? The least the ASI can do is help the disabled exercise a conscious choice,” says Gupta. 

When contacted, ASI director general C Babu Rajeev says he has directed all 18 World Heritage sites managed by the ASI to provide abilities to the disabled. “We are bound by the law to provide facilities. It is a statutory responsibility. We want to begin with the Qutub Minar and replicate the process everywhere else,” he says. “We are seeking the advise of Swayam, an NGO on the gradient of the ramps and its texture.”

Wherever HT found a ramp at the monuments, the metal surface was slippery, without any handrails to help wheelchair users. “The surface resembles the floor of a DTC bus. It is extremely difficult not to slip on it,” says Gupta. 

Babu Rajeev says since the ASI cannot disturb the original structures of the heritage sites too much, and so, not all of them can become accessible. “At the Humayun’s Tomb, for instance, the main mausoleum is at such a great height that a ramp cannot be a solution. We may have to install a lift there. Again, we don’t know for sure if the existing structure can take a lift,” he elaborates. 

The Red Fort, continues Babu Rajeev, suffered because a court directive had put all restoration work on hold for two years. “As directed by the Supreme Court, now that the conservation plan is in place, we want to get going on Red Fort’s restoration.”  Hopefully, the promises won’t get caught in red tape.