Municipality fined 141,934 liras for failing to build 'accessible path'

According to the decision by TİHEK, M.K., a visually impaired resident of Istanbul, requested in 2022 that the Sarıyer Municipality repair the road and make it accessible, stating that they had difficulty walking due to the lack of sidewalks on the street where they lived and potholes in the asphalt; however, they did not receive a positive result.

M.K., who had difficulty walking due to tissue cancer in their foot, repeated the complaint a year later, and upon receiving no response from the municipality, applied to TİHEK.

Launching an investigation upon the citizen's application, TİHEK requested a written opinion from the municipality.

In its written opinion, the municipality stated that it had been determined that the neighborhood where the applicant's house is located and other roads on the street were formed as a result of unplanned and illegal construction.

The opinion stated that a sidewalk could not be built due to the lack of road width in accordance with standards and that the street could not be made suitable for disabled access, while noting that the street's asphalt had been renewed.

In a written opinion received from the Accessibility Monitoring and Inspection Commission of the Istanbul Governorship Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services, it was reported that it had been determined that there was no pedestrian sidewalk on the road and that the asphalt was not smooth, and it was stated that a sidewalk meeting appropriate standards should be added and the road should be redesigned.

Ruling that there was a violation of the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability in the application, TİHEK imposed an administrative fine of 141,934 liras on the relevant municipality at the upper limit.

"DISABLED INDIVIDUALS MUST BE ABLE TO TRAVEL WITHOUT EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS"

The decision emphasized that within the framework of the right of disabled individuals to live independently and be included in society, they must be able to travel from one place to another without experiencing problems, without the accessibility chain being broken.

The decision stated that the street not being accessible restricted the applicant's independent movement and made their participation in work and social life difficult. The decision, which stated that the applicant was placed in a disadvantaged position, noted that in the concrete case, the prohibition of indirect discrimination on the basis of disability was violated due to the failure to ensure accessibility.

News Source: AA