Special parking lots for disabled

PUNE, July 12: Pune will soon become the first city in Maharashtra to reserve parking space in prime locations for disabled people with vehicles. An action plan envisaging the reservation of parking space has already been drawn up by the Directorate of Social Welfare, Maharashtra.

Initiated by disabled persons residing in the city and taken up by the traffic police, the move comes at a time when the physically challenged are demanding implementation of Chapter VIII of the Gazette of India Extraordinary, an Act of Parliament which received the assent of the President on January 1, 1996, and which is aimed at ensuring equal opportunities for disabled people. The directorate is expecting at least 50 people with vehicles to sign up.