This Coimbatore NGO Is Making Toilets More Accessible to the Disabled at the City’s Railway Station

Even though crores of commuters travel through trains in India on a daily basis, railway stations for the most part woefully remain inaccessible to those who have movement disabilities. However, one NGO in Coimbatore has decided to ensure the toilets in the city’s railway junction become more user friendly to those with disabilities.

Swarga Foundation, which has gotten the permission of Southern Railway, will be conducting extensive restorations of bathrooms at the Coimbatore railway junction. They have already conducted inspections along with railway officials and identified areas that urgently need to be fixed.

For instance, a person in a wheelchair would be unable to navigate properly even if one tile in a rest room is protruding or broken.

Image for representation. Photo source: Pixabay 

Speaking to Times of India, Swarga Foundation founder G Swarnalatha said, “The project will include replacing the bathroom tiles with tiles that will not be slippery, replacing the metal handle bars with a material like stainless steel that will not rust and creating grab bars on both sides of the toilets.”

Swarnalatha elaborated that in order to ensure that the toilet floors don’t get wet, the organisation will raise Indian closets by six inches. The team will also be creating both Indian and Western closets for all bathrooms. The goal is to make the restrooms accessible for the movement of all disabled people, including those with visual impairments.

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The NGO will be spending ₹2.5 lakh in order to successfully complete the renovation of restrooms in at least three platforms in the station. If there is any surplus of funds, the foundation will also ensure non-stop water supply, fix faucets, basins and more.

Recently, disability rights activist Nirali Modi started a petition that went viral, requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make the railways more accessible for the disabled.

Swarga Foundation can be contacted here

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