Shanties galore, but few takers for night shelters

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 20

A number of shanties have come up in various parts of the city in this winter. However, night shelters built by the government find a few takers.

Though the administration has made shelter homes for homeless people, most of them are reluctant to avail their facilities for personal reasons.

Temporary shanties that came up around the boundary wall of Company Bagh were removed in the morning. Since posh and prime commercial localities are situated around Company Bagh, the officials swung into action and removed these.

Vijay, who puts up in a shanty, said, “We have families and children to look after. We were compelled to set up temporary shanties to get some respite from the sweeping cold wave at night.”

A homeless woman said, “We cannot move to night shelters set up inside Gol Bagh and near the Ram Bagh railway crossing. One night shelter is for women and the other one is for man. To stay at night shelters, we have to separate from our family.”

The number of inmates does not cross the double digit mark at both night shelters.

Homeless people can be seen spending night in the open on footpaths around Company Bagh, dividers of Lawrence Road, Dharam Singh market and religious places in the city. Many shanties have come up on the roadside outside Lohgarh Gate.

A night shelter for destitute people has been built on 6,050 sq ft at a cost of Rs85 lakh in Gole Bagh.

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