398 पटक हेरिएको 
Minraj Khanal, a resident of Ward 4 of Ratnanagar Municipality in Chitwan, is the chairperson of the Municipal Coordination Committee of the Disabled. He is visually impaired. I met him during an event in Hetauda, Makwanpur, organized for the amendment of the legislation of the National Federation of the Disabled.
I have wanted to hear the experiences of people with disabilities regarding accessible physical infrastructure for some time. By chance, when I met him in Hetauda, I decided to have a conversation with him on this topic.
The Accessible Physical Structure and Communication Service Directive for People with Disabilities 2013 outlines the need to make government buildings, schools, universities, hospitals, health institutions, religious sites, roads, sidewalks, and waiting areas for passengers accessible for people with disabilities. It mandates the provision of appropriate wheelchair ramps, doors, windows, guiding blocks, and Braille. Moreover, it also specifies what kind of infrastructure should be provided for drinking water and sanitation services for persons with disabilities.
According to the provisions in the guidelines, how accessible are the physical infrastructures for drinking water and sanitation for persons with disabilities? We wanted to understand this from him. He said, “The current physical structures do not show any coordination in the face of obstacles that people with disabilities encounter. These structures are not suitable even for able-bodied individuals, let alone for people with disabilities.”
“Is there any example of such a situation?” Before I could finish the question properly, he began explaining the difficulties he had faced. “I was travelling from Chitwan to Kathmandu and stopped at a hotel in Naubise to use the restroom. The person who was assisting me didn’t have knowledge about disabilities. Ahead of me, a parent carrying a small child was about to go in. I overheard the parent saying, ‘There’s a drain here, we can’t go through. Go do it somewhere around here.’ After hearing that, I turned back as well, because if an able child couldn’t get through, I didn’t think I could either.”
“What happened next?” I asked, with curiosity.
“If I had stepped into the drain, I would have fallen, possibly broken my leg, or gotten stuck in the dirt, so I immediately turned back. I resisted my bladder’s need until I reached Kathmandu. For people like us with disabilities, every place is filled with obstacles. In our own municipality toilet, the path to the restroom is blocked with large blocks. Even a normal person would trip if they didn’t pay attention, so there’s no way it would be easy for someone who is blind or physically disabled.”
I listened to him, nodding in agreement. The atmosphere grew heavy for a moment. Then, I made an effort to dive deeper into the topic of sanitation infrastructure. The guidelines for accessible physical structures for people with disabilities also include the standards for toilets. According to the guidelines, in any building, public toilets, toilets in guesthouses, and other similar facilities should be free of any obstacles for wheelchair users and other people with disabilities. However, this provision is far from being a reality for people with disabilities.
He said, “There are different types of obstacles for people with disabilities, just as there are different types of disabilities. If there were a single shared structure that caters to all these types, it would be much easier for us. However, out of the ten types of disabilities, there isn’t a single accessible physical structure for people with disabilities here. In both the drinking water and sanitation sectors, the environment remains completely unsuitable. If we were to measure it in terms of percentage, it would be zero percent.”
I listen attentively as he goes on. “In places where we go for drinking water, the first thing is that there are no signs for the visually impaired indicating where the water source is. None of the staff or the person accompanying me has any knowledge of accessibility for people with disabilities. They don’t know where the source is, how far it is, or in which direction it is. Such information is not present.”
For this, according to the shared standards of accessible physical structures for people with disabilities, the water source should be located in a place where all types of people can easily find it. There should be sign language for the general public, word diagrams or Braille for the visually impaired, and the height should be accessible for people with physical disabilities to open and close. Additionally, it should be designed in a way that is suitable for all other types of disabilities. However, such structures have not been constructed anywhere so far.
For a person with a spinal injury, what kind of sanitation structure should be in place? What should be the proper height of a hand-washing basin? These basic things are often missing. A wheelchair user or a short person cannot even reach it and the condition inside is often filthy. If a visually impaired person touches it, their hands get dirty. Instead of cleanliness, the situation leads to contamination of their own clean body parts. There’s no sign of where the basin or urinal is. When they touch things, their hands get dirty, and the situation becomes unhygienic.”
The Accessible Physical Structure and Communication Service Directive for People with Disabilities states that the location of toilets or signs indicating the toilets should also be written in Braille. Additionally, there should be Braille signs to differentiate between the men’s and women’s toilets. These Braille signs should be placed at a height of no more than 42 inches from the ground, making it easy for visually impaired individuals to touch and read while standing.
However, this provision remains limited to theory. Such structures have not been constructed anywhere. According to Minraj, this situation arises because such structures were built without consulting individuals with knowledge of disability-related issues during the construction phase.
Minraj believes that the inability to construct structures as per the provisions in the guidelines is primarily due to the lack of involvement of leaders from the disabled community and the engineers responsible for design at the policy-making level. “The person giving directions often thinks that a wheelchair user should be fine. Engineers focus on budget and the contract agreement. They are often unaware of the actual needs of disabled individuals. The policy-making and directing bodies have never been able to successfully address the needs of persons with disabilities. Most programs are just for show.”
“It is unclear whether it is a matter of intent or a weakness. There has been no study or research at this level. If there is no knowledge about what kind of structure is necessary and no urgency to achieve it, then we cannot even imagine achieving goalless results.”
“There are disability activists, but none of these organizations seem to progress in a planned manner. Those responsible for implementation have two weaknesses: one is intent, and the other is a lack of wisdom or knowledge. The person with no wisdom is the one who ends up in leadership. With such leadership, success is impossible. Apart from that, political interference is also a factor, as is the lack of sufficient knowledge, training, and the will to conduct research. Due to all these reasons, the disability-friendly environment feels very far from our reach.”
