Thiruvananthapuram corporation to be accessible to all

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior citizens and people with disabilities who struggle to meet the Mayor or Corporation Secretary as they are forced to climb the stairs of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation main office, can now heave a sigh of relief. In a project to refurbish the Corporation pension building, there will be provision for elevators connecting all floors. Mayor V.K. Prasanth said, “The problem of the first floor being inaccessible can be solved when the pension building is renovated. We will be sending Request for Proposals (RfP) to consultants who can prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) before this financial year ends.”

Hundreds of people visit Corporation main office everyday. Many of them have to reach the first floor in order to submit their forms related to housing schemes, or get the signatures of mayor or corporation secretary. The building next to the main office, from which State Election Commission office functions, has elevators. It is connected to the main office in all floors except the ground floor and first floor. Even though it is connected, there is no signage which lets people know about elevators in the other building.

Moreover, the path leading to the other building is not smooth enough for wheelchair-enabled people. In effect, everyone ends up climbing the stairs. Sources say that there was another project, proposed during the previous council’s time, in which an elevator system was to be built next to the main staircase. Though the Office of the State Commission for Persons with Disabilities had promised to finance the project, eventually the money did not come through.