The Bombay High Court, during a hearing on a suo motu PIL petition addressing obstacles faced by wheelchair users due to bollards on footpaths, instructed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to not only rectify the issues but also take action against contractors and negligent officers. The petition was initiated based on an email from Karan Sunil Shah, who pointed out that while bollards aimed at enhancing safety on footpaths in Mumbai, they rendered the paths impassable for wheelchair users.
Shah’s email included photos illustrating that the spacing between the poles was insufficient for a wheelchair to navigate through. Senior advocate Anil Singh, representing BMC, informed the Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Arif S Doctor that the civic body had devised a new footpath policy on May 26, 2023, considering the needs of disabled individuals.
