Between cold & curtailment, homeless people on horns of dilemma in holy city

Neeraj Bagga

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Amritsar, December 28

Given a choice between liberty in their daily life or saving themselves from the biting cold, the homeless begging on the streets of the holy city in a large number prefer the former.

Under a grant from the Union government, the Municipal Corporation (MC) spent crores on building a night shelter at Gol Bagh, outside the railway station, and another was housed in an abandoned hospital building situated close to the Company Garden. Yet, these hardly find takers.

Despite the freezing cold coupled with a thick cover of fog, the homeless can be seen living on the pavement, cooking meals and performing other daily chores. They can be seen settled on the pavements of the Mall which belongs to the colonial era, using wood as fuel to cook and warm themselves.

Similarly, homeless migrants have settled in large numbers on the Qila Gobindgarh road. They have erected shanties. Not only are they an eyesore as tourists frequent the road to see the historic fort, but also slow down the flow of traffic by begging.

The destitute can be seen spending nights out in the open even in the cold weather conditions because going to a night shelter would cause them a loss of liberty in terms of smoking, chewing tobacco, drinking and consuming other intoxicants, activities which are not possible there.

Sushma, a destitute woman, said they cannot put up in night shelters as they have a separate space for men and women, whereas there are families with women and kids. In the night shelter at Gol Bagh, separate bathrooms and halls for men and women are available. It means that to stay at a night shelter, these families have to split.

So, the homeless can often be spotted lying under the bridges, on pavements, in parks and at public places. Most of them are into begging and some are even hooked to drugs and alcohol, making them reluctant to move to shelters set up by the administration.

Civic body spent crores, yet no takers

Under a grant from the Union government, the Municipal Corporation (MC) spent crores on building a night shelter at Gol Bagh, outside the railway station, and another was housed in an abandoned hospital building situated close to the Company Garden. Yet, these hardly find takers.