FOB ready for blind school students but danger, death-traps on the way

NEW DELHI: "The overbridge isn’t what we expected. There’s a 300-metre distance we have to walk," muttered Santosh, a BEd student at the Blind Relief Association, as he approached the pedestrian bridge built on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg in south Delhi. "Since nothing can be done about the distance now, the authorities should at least create a cemented pavement along the main road so we don’t bump into obstacles and parked vehicles."

Visually impaired students walk every day to the overbridge just ahead of the Oberoi hotel meant to take the risks of crossing the busy road out of their lives. But their plight has not been resolved by its construction. Afroz Khan said that he was hit by a car when walking towards the FOB last week. "The driver was very apologetic and walked me to safety," the 27-year-old said.

The problem for the students, as Naveen points out, is that they arrive at and leave their institution when the traffic has built up to the morning and evening peaks. Mahesh Kumar Singh added, "No car driver gives a damn about us. There’s little that has been done to help us. The authorities should think of how to ease things for us, not how to make things difficult."

A woman student said on condition of anonymity that people often come to help her because she is a woman. But, she says, she is often unsure about what the so-called helper’s intentions are. "People who come forward to assist me are not ‘helpful’ every time. There have been times when a stranger has put his arms around my waist, obviously taking advantage of my blindness. This happens frequently," she claimed."

Ongoing construction near the hotel, cars parked there and a crumbly footpath punctuated by trees force the blind to seek help of passersby. Their innate sense of the space around them is no help when obstacles keep cropping up. "As a blind person since childhood, my sixth sense is strong enough to guide me. This is a posh south Delhi area and yet I still face hurdles," grumbled Raj Karan.