When the city crumbles, who will help the disabled?

When the rains came to Delhi this August, so did disaster. Water entered homes. Unstable walls collapsed, killing children in slums. Cars were submerged. Traffic jams stretched for hours, with people stranded for six to eight hours on flooded roads. Roads cracked open, metro stations leaked, and electric poles sparked dangerously in residential lanes.

This is the monsoon experience for the able-bodied. Now, consider the same city from the eyes of a person with a disability (PwD). “I’m at your location,” the cab driver says. “But the road is flooded. If you’re blind and might slip, that’s your problem. Come on your own.” This isn’t fiction. It is a common reality for thousands of persons with disabilities across Indian cities, especially during monsoon. The real question is: why are our roads, footpaths, and public infrastructure still designed to exclude them?

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is responsible for maintaining over 12,700 km of city roads. Yet, its budgetary priorities unequivocally clarify accessibility is not considered an essential public service.

Even as internal roads crumble during rain, with potholes turning into death traps, MCD continues to operate on tight funds. Much of its budget goes towards salaries and debt servicing, leaving almost nothing for meaningful investment in accessible public infrastructure. The Mukhyamantri Sadak Punarnirman Yojna and ward-level funds under the MLALAD scheme are plagued by slow approvals, bureaucratic delays, and piecemeal repairs that wash away by the next downpour.

Nowhere in these schemes is there a provision that mandates disability access – no requirement for tactile paths, no auditory signals, no curb ramps or protected crossings. There is no earmarked line item for accessibility, and no trained personnel within MCD tasked with ensuring compliance. Footpaths, where they exist, are either encroached, broken, flooded, or entirely absent. For a wheelchair user or visually impaired commuter, they may as well be barricades.

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) functions as the nodal agency for disability policy in India, and has issued the Harmonised Guidelines 2021 under Sections 40 and 44 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWDA). These guidelines cover tactile paving, curb ramps, accessible parking, signage, lighting, and maintenance protocols – across roads, buildings, parks, and transport hubs.

But DEPwD’s role remains confined to policy formulation. The department cannot direct MCD, PWD, CPWD, DDA, or NDMC to implement these norms. It cannot block inaccessible projects or withhold funds. It does not issue building permits or sanction road work. It also lacks adequate staffing or financial muscle – receiving less than 0.03% of the Union Budget.

DEPwD’s budget is a fraction of what is required. For 2025-26, the allocation to the department is approximately Rs 1,275 crore, which constitutes just 0.025% of the Union Budget. The department’s limited financial and administrative capacity makes it impossible to drive nationwide accessibility reforms without robust collaboration, budget mainstreaming, and political will across infrastructure sectors.

Accessibility, therefore, remains siloed. Even though Section 44 of the RPWDA prohibits building approvals or occupancy certificates unless projects comply with accessibility norms, most infrastructure in Delhi continues to ignore these mandates. The problem is not a lack of standards. It is that no one is legally or institutionally accountable to enforce them.

Mainstreaming accessibility

Accessibility must move from the margins of welfare policy into the heart of urban planning and infrastructure development. It cannot remain the sole responsibility of DEPwD or a provision hidden in the RPWDA. It must be integrated into mainstream schemes like the Smart Cities Mission, urban transport planning, municipal budgeting, and infrastructure contracts.

MCD and other civic bodies must urgently update their building bye-laws and road design manuals to align with the Harmonised Guidelines 2021. Without this, infrastructure will continue to be built in technical violation of national law. A dedicated budgetary allocation for accessibility must be created under each department responsible for roads, footpaths, buildings, or public transport. These cannot remain optional line items, or worse, unaccounted for entirely.

All public infrastructure projects must be subject to mandatory accessibility audits, conducted before approval and post-construction, with real consequences for non-compliance. These audits should involve people with disabilities and trained professionals. The Delhi government and its urban local bodies must, finally, publish the long-overdue Accessibility Action Plan, as required by Section 45(2) of the RPWDA.

A city-level nodal officer for accessibility must be appointed to coordinate between agencies, track implementation, and resolve jurisdictional conflicts. Without this, enforcement will continue to fall through bureaucratic cracks.

In S. Rajaseekaran v. Union of India & Ors, the Supreme Court of India, in May 2025, categorically held that the right to use unobstructed footpaths is part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. A bench of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan directed all states and Union Territories to create guidelines for pedestrian safety – specifically for persons with disabilities.

The law is clear. The guidelines exist. What we lack is political will and institutional accountability. Until that changes, the rains will continue to wash away not just roads, but the rights of millions.

(The writer is a research fellow – Disability Inclusion and Access, at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy)