City’s oldest night shelter lies neglected

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 12

The oldest night shelter of the city located in Sector 17 is crying for care. There are no signboards to indicate passengers about its location.

The passengers reaching the ISBT in night hours have to literally scout for the night shelter. While walking on the dark patch, one has to ask bus stand employees or shopkeepers to find the way towards the shelter located in the basement near the bus stand. However, strict rules are followed and tipplers are not allowed to stay. Identity cards are must for anyone seeking shelter.

Lying on the bed is a compromise. Sleeping mattress and quilts are reeking with filth. Rats could be seen either on the quilt or the floor. Toilets are choked and geysers are lying non-functional. Despite the glaring shortcomings, the shelter was filled to its capacity.

“The place was renovated nearly three years ago and it used to give a competition to nearby hotels. The night shelter is lying in utter neglect and the infrastructure is deteriorating.  I am here as I could not find any other place to stay,” says a man reluctant to divulge his name.

My cousin is admitted to the PGI. Someone told me about the affordable stay here. However, the place is quite dingy. In only Rs 40, there is no other place which provides a roof and quilt. I take a bus in the morning and visit the ISBT in Sector 43 to take a bath,” said a resident from HP.

Another passenger, who visits the night shelter regularly, said during the monsoon season, water seeped into halls and flooded the place.

“Visit the shelter in the morning and you will find the entire place swarmed with 50 to 60 police personnel. The policemen from Haryana and Punjab get dressed here and then proceed to the high court for hearings. If CCTV cameras are installed in the hall then it will come out,” said a Haryana resident. The oldest night shelter of the city, it was inaugurated in 1990 by the then Adviser Baleshwar Rai.

Run by Red Cross, Chandigarh, the shelter offers facilities such as drinking water, washrooms, bathrooms and a common room. It was renovated in 2015 and many new facilities were added to it. In merely Rs 40, one gets a bed for 12 hours. A few rooms with four beds are reserved for those who can pay Rs 240 per room. 

Around 50 beds are reserved for the poor free of any charge, which usually remain vacant most of the time.