'45 Mins, No Lift, No Help': Wheelchair-Bound Comedian Exposes Accessibility Gaps At Mumbai Metro (WATCH)

Popular comedian Karn Shah, known for his appearance on Samay Raina’s show “India’s Got Latent”, has shared a harrowing account of being stranded at Mumbai’s Worli Metro Station, exposing glaring gaps in the city’s accessibility infrastructure. Wheelchair-bound and dependent on lifts for mobility, Shah found himself unable to board the metro for over 45 minutes after the station’s lift stopped working.

In a video, shared on Instagram, that has gone viral, Shah can be seen waiting helplessly at the station as traffic moves by on the busy road outside. According to him, Worli has only one functional lift, and when it failed, there was no immediate alternative or assistance provided.

“So I am at the Worli metro station and the lift is not working… it’s been over 45 minutes that I have been standing over here,” Shah says in the video. He claimed that the metro authorities advised him to return home by wheeling himself along the main road from Worli to Dadar - a stretch crowded with cars, buses and bikes.

“The cars are going, the bikes are going, the buses are going. And they expect me to go from this road all the way to Dadar,” he says.

Shah further claimed he called the number multiple times, only for the call to disconnect after a few seconds without any response. “No one is picking up the call on the emergency numbers,” he said.

Adding to his distress, Shah was unable to access a washroom. The metro was inaccessible and no nearby facilities designed for wheelchair users.

Shah underscored that his fear did not stem from his disability, but from institutional apathy. “Tonight I wasn’t scared because I’m disabled. I was scared because the system failed me at every step. Lifts, helplines, roads, washrooms — everything made me feel disabled. Living in the current century shouldn’t feel this unsafe. Accessibility is not luxury infrastructure. It’s basic human dignity," he captioned his video.

Shah described the incident as the “most horrific night” of his life."