No takers for night shelters

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, November 26

With a dip in the temperature, the chill in the air is already making people confined to their homes at night. The mercury will dip further in the coming days. Still, there are no takers for night shelters in the city.

ID must for stay

Several people come here in an inebriated state. We don’t allow them to enter the shelter as they may create ruckus. Several untoward incidents were reported earlier. So, we started asking for an Aadhaar card or any ID. — Happy Kumar, A caretaker

There are three night shelters – at Damoria Bridge, Babrik Chowk and near the bus stand – in the city. The night shelter at Damoria Bridge has 32 beds. It can accommodate maximum number of people as compared to other two shelters.

The Damoria Bridge night shelter is situated near the railway station. Despite this, people can be seen sleeping outside on footpaths or under flyovers in biting cold. Only one person was inside the shelter last night, while several others were sitting outside.

Happy Kumar, caretaker at the night shelter, said nobody was allowed to enter the shelter without an Aadhaar card.

“Several people come here in an inebriated state. We don’t allow them to enter the shelter as they may create ruckus. Several untoward incidents were reported earlier. So, we started asking for an Aadhaar card or any valid ID. No woman comes to stay at the shelter,” he said.

“If someone comes with the family or a police official asks us to allow someone to stay at the shelter, we give them permission to use the facility only after noting down the details along with the phone number,” he said.

Mandhir Singh, Superintendent Engineer, who looks after the night shelter project, said people were motivated to stay at night shelters. “We don’t want anyone to suffer in the open in winters. However, Aadhaar card is mandatory for those who want to utilise the facility,” he said.