In response to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act passed in 2016, a proposal to make beaches in Chennai accessible was set in motion. After considering different sites along the Marina and Besant nagar beach, the beach access was fixed to be made directly behind the Gandhi statue across the Marina beach.
The accessible quarter encompasses the area comprising the State commissionerate for the differently abled, The Museum of Possibilities, Magizhchi cafe, the beach access, and a universally accessible toilet complex. The quarter is designed with the aim of creating an accessible network connecting all these spaces.
Based on the requirements of People with Disabilities, the accessible quarter is designed around three key strategies
- Accessing the quarter: Enabling easy access to the quarter from external neighbourhoods by creating accessible bus stops, reducing speeding, providing accessible parking etc.
- Barriers along the circuit: Removing the barriers that are present in the existing stretch such as haphazard parking, irregular pedestrian walkways, protrusions and level differences in accessible structures.
- Missing links: Additional recommendations for making disabled friendly infrastructure apart from the basic necessities.
Project team: Vidhya Mohankumar, Srivardhan Rajalingam, Nawin Saravanan, Vidhya Venkatesan
Partner Organisations: State commissionerate for the differently abled.