Ludhiana: At a time when people are struggling to find relief from cold even in the comfort of their cozy homes, a lot of homeless people have been forced to spend chilly nights on roadsides. Though the MC is running three night shelters in the city, very few people land up there.
Though there are several locations where homeless people can be seen sleeping every night, the civic officials claimed they have made sufficient arrangements in the night shelters where homeless people could spend their nights. And if people are still sleeping in the open, it means they prefer staying on the roads, they said.
The MC has opened three night shelters in Moti Nagar, Hambran Road and Vishwakarma Chowk while one night shelter located near Clock Tower has been closed this year after the building was declared unsafe. In Moti Nagar night shelter, the official capacity is 130 beds, but 70 more beds can be adjusted if required. However, the night shelter near Hambran Road has the capacity of 50 people while night shelter near Vishwakarma chowk has the capacity of 30 people. The MC did not make any alternate arrangement for replacing this night shelter. The homeless people can be seen sleeping on Jagraon Bridge, near Guru Nanak Stadium, Durga Mata Mandir, Hambran Road near Dandi Swami chowk etc.
The MC has deputed two mini city buses for ferrying the homeless people to these night shelters at night time. One bus starts from local bus stand while other runs from Gil Road. However the homeless people claimed even the bus does not come very often. The major issue with these night shelters is that these are in different directions.
One of the MC officials while requesting anonymity said, “Instead of shifting people from road to night shelter forcefully, the civic body should identify the locations where maximum homeless people are seen at night time and some temporary sort of arrangement should be done nearby so that people could save them from cold weather.”
MC joint commissioner Kulpreet Singh said 100 to 150 people use night shelters daily,
Though there are several locations where homeless people can be seen sleeping every night, the civic officials claimed they have made sufficient arrangements in the night shelters where homeless people could spend their nights. And if people are still sleeping in the open, it means they prefer staying on the roads, they said.
The MC has opened three night shelters in Moti Nagar, Hambran Road and Vishwakarma Chowk while one night shelter located near Clock Tower has been closed this year after the building was declared unsafe. In Moti Nagar night shelter, the official capacity is 130 beds, but 70 more beds can be adjusted if required. However, the night shelter near Hambran Road has the capacity of 50 people while night shelter near Vishwakarma chowk has the capacity of 30 people. The MC did not make any alternate arrangement for replacing this night shelter. The homeless people can be seen sleeping on Jagraon Bridge, near Guru Nanak Stadium, Durga Mata Mandir, Hambran Road near Dandi Swami chowk etc.
The MC has deputed two mini city buses for ferrying the homeless people to these night shelters at night time. One bus starts from local bus stand while other runs from Gil Road. However the homeless people claimed even the bus does not come very often. The major issue with these night shelters is that these are in different directions.
One of the MC officials while requesting anonymity said, “Instead of shifting people from road to night shelter forcefully, the civic body should identify the locations where maximum homeless people are seen at night time and some temporary sort of arrangement should be done nearby so that people could save them from cold weather.”
MC joint commissioner Kulpreet Singh said 100 to 150 people use night shelters daily,
.