Lessons from disabled-friendly Alappuzha beach

Chennai will be setting a benchmark when the permanent ramp to the Marina is designed, keeping the user and the coastal regulations in mind. But the road ahead is not easy, say experts. In 2018, Alapp

Chennai will be setting a benchmark when the permanent ramp to the Marina is designed, keeping the user and the coastal regulations in mind. But the road ahead is not easy, say experts.

In 2018, Alappuzha beach in Kerala announced that it is disabled-friendly where various organisations with the presence on the beach, including the District Tourism Promotion Council, constructed ramps, accessible restrooms, wheelchairs and also offered sign language in Braille. A few users The Hindu spoke to said the ramp did not lead a wheelchair user directly to the place where the rolls into a gentle waves.

“It is a concrete ramp and the wheelchair users are sometimes lifted so that they can experience the waves,” says Rajeev Palluruthy, general secretary, All Kerala Wheel Chair Rights Federation. “So you cannot call it wheelchair-friendly in the true sense of the term but it was a good starting point,” he says.