Many homeless still brave bone-chilling nights in the open in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, February 4

Even 12 years after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered states to comply with its directive to provide roofs for the homeless facing threats to their lives while sleeping in the open and enduring intense cold, a number of such people are still forced to stay in the open during the bone-chilling nights of the winter season in the city.

According to an order issued by the Supreme Court in January 2012, the state must fulfil its core obligation to comply with Article 21 of the Constitution by providing night shelters for the vulnerable and homeless. In that order, the SC had directed the collectors and district magistrates of different states, including Punjab, to file affidavits with their respective chief secretaries within three weeks, ensuring that at least temporary night shelters are provided to protect and preserve the lives of the people in consonance with the constitutional philosophy enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.

In the absence of the required number of night shelters or temporary shelters, especially near Durga Mata Mandir, Guru Nanak Stadium, Railway Station, Clock Tower and among other parts of the city, a number of homeless persons are forced to spend nights on footpaths, under flyovers, or verandahs of various markets amid the bone-chilling weather conditions.

Of the MC’s four night shelters, only three located at Dairy Complex on Hambran Road in Zone D, Moti Nagar near Cheema Chowk in Zone B and another near Vishwakarma Chowk in Zone C are operational. The MC’s main night shelter located near Clock Tower and the railway station in Zone A had been closed more than a year ago due to its unsafe structure and no alternative arrangements have been made so far.

A homeless person outside the Guru Nanak Stadium near Shree Durga Mata Mandir said a bus comes every night to transport homeless persons from the area to a night shelter located at Haibowal Dairy Complex but there is no arrangement to drop them back at the same place the next morning. That night shelter is roughly 5 km away from here and to return near Guru Nanak Stadium in the morning, they have to either pay around Rs 20 fare for an auto-rickshaw or walk. Hence, a number of homeless persons avoid to go to that shelter. He said they were dependent on donated food or consume langar at nearby religious places.

BJP leader Parminder Mehta said he recently wrote to the government authorities about the serious condition of homeless people sleeping in the open amid the intense cold conditions. The MC’s three operational night shelters are located at a far distance from the Clock Tower, railway station, bus stand, various religious places, rickshaw stands, and other public places where the homeless generally spend nights in the open. He alleged that no step had been taken to set up even temporary night shelters near such places so that such people could visit these easily to protect themselves from cold. The MC can also consider setting up one night shelter in each ward of the city, he added.

Also, a large number of labourers come from other states through trains or buses to Ludhiana and some of them sleep on footpaths or in market areas of the city.

There is no separate night shelter available for women in the city. However, a room was earlier reserved for women at the existing night shelters.

Jagjeet Singh from Watawaran Sambhal Society said: “There is a need to set up at least temporary night shelters for winters near all public places where the homeless usually stay so that they can go to such shelters to sleep at night to protect themselves from bone-chilling cold.”

According to MC officials, two city buses have been deployed to ferry the homeless to the three night shelters located in Zone B, C and D during night hours. Around 100 homeless people come to these shelters every night. The officials claimed that the civic body has made necessary arrangements at the shelters and also tied up with NGOs and a gurdwara management committee to provide food to the homeless at the shelters. An official said a number of homeless people also refuse to go to night shelters.

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