Finally, 37 more night shelters for Delhi’s homeless

NEW DELHI - At long last, 37 additional night shelters to put up 5,000 people have been arranged in the capital. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was swift to act Thursday after the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government for leaving the homeless out in the cold.

The MCD submitted its report to the Delhi government Thursday, identifying 37 venues - mostly community halls which already have toilets - for setting up night shelters.

“We have given the report identifying some 37 community halls and corporation buildings. We have already started work in the places, by cleaning the buildings and getting the amenities ready,” Deep Mathur, MCD spokesperson, told IANS.

While blankets are provided for people, since the community halls already have toilets, there is no need to make separate arrangement on that front, he added.

He said temporary tented accommodations were also being put up at some places.

The additional night shelters are expected to provide relief to 4,510 men and 410 women and children. Only four of the 37 additional shelters will be able to house women and children.

Among the places where the shelters are being set up, 12 are in the walled city with a capacity to house 1,390 people, five are in Old Delhi for 830 people, six in central Delhi for 880 people, five in west Delhi for 650 people, four in north Delhi for 530 people, three in south Delhi for 360 people and two in east Delhi for 280 people.

There are some 150,000 homeless people in the Indian capital, which has been experiencing a harsh winter. Nights, especially, have been very cold and foggy.

The apex court Wednesday ordered the Delhi government to provide shelter to the homeless by evening. The shelters should also have basic amenities like blankets, electricity, food and toilets, the court added.

This prompted Delhi government chief secretary Rakesh Mehta to convene a high level meeting Wednesday and direct the MCD to open more temporary shelters.

“We will act within 48 hours and hope this will address the problem,” Mehta had said Wednesday evening.

As against last year, when there were 46 shelters during winter, which included 17 permanent shelters and 29 temporary ones, this year the number has been reduced to 33 (17 permanent and 16 temporary). Of the 16 shelters, one was recently demolished.

Paramjeet Kaur of the Ashraya Adhikar Abhiyan (AAA), which manages almost half the 17 government-run permanent shelters, said although there is an urgent need to build more shelters, equal emphasis should be laid on increasing awareness about these shelters among the city’s homeless.

“For instance, last night in our Fatehpuri night shelter there were 136 occupants. Its capacity is, however, for 400 people. While I can’t generalise the trend because at times it overflows with people, there is a need for more awareness,” she said.

According to Kaur, people who are within a one kilometre radius of a night shelter are generally aware of its existence.

“On days when there are many weddings happening, like last night, the homeless gather there for food and spend the night around that place. Also, because families want to live together, they would rather spend the night on the streets than stay separately in the shelters or leave the women on the roads,” she added.