New Delhi:
The Supreme Court's order is clear, provide a roof above each homeless, but has it moved on the ground? A tour of the shelters with Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi government officials paints a grim picture.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the Delhi Government, V Bharadwaj told NDTV that a particular shelter can accommodate 150 people. On the other hand, a resident of the shelter tells us about the facilities available. "We have blankets, but there is no toilet. We have to pay for drinking water." On being questioned, the official replies with silence.
While touring another shelter, a vacant government building, night shelters Director of the MCD, Kundan Lal told NDTV, "See we have the blankets. We have started this as a new facility, and we are spreading information through word-of-mouth for people to come in. Eight people stayed here last night." The NDTV crew saw around 30 MCD officials at the shelter and no homeless.
The NDTV team took the officials to visit a temporary tent to give them a reality check. There, the officials interacted with people living in the tent and were forced to listen to their woes.
Homeless man: There are two blankets. One we put on the bed, and the other over us.
Official: We have given them a sheet too.
Another homeless: How is that enough in this cold? See how cold it is!
"They shut down the tent earlier and four people died in the cold," complained another homeless in the capital.
Official: The government is concerned. Now, we will look into what their problems are. The shutting down of the tent earlier was not right.
The official adds that it was very unfortunate that people lost their family members due to the cold.
It seems like the Delhi Government is struggling to comply with the court order. From 43 shelters, the number of the night shelters has jumped to 71 overnight.
It is evident that Delhi is nowhere even close to meeting that target of accommodating nearly one-and-a-half lakh people with basic facilities.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the Delhi Government, V Bharadwaj told NDTV that a particular shelter can accommodate 150 people. On the other hand, a resident of the shelter tells us about the facilities available. "We have blankets, but there is no toilet. We have to pay for drinking water." On being questioned, the official replies with silence.
While touring another shelter, a vacant government building, night shelters Director of the MCD, Kundan Lal told NDTV, "See we have the blankets. We have started this as a new facility, and we are spreading information through word-of-mouth for people to come in. Eight people stayed here last night." The NDTV crew saw around 30 MCD officials at the shelter and no homeless.
The NDTV team took the officials to visit a temporary tent to give them a reality check. There, the officials interacted with people living in the tent and were forced to listen to their woes.
Homeless man: There are two blankets. One we put on the bed, and the other over us.
Official: We have given them a sheet too.
Another homeless: How is that enough in this cold? See how cold it is!
"They shut down the tent earlier and four people died in the cold," complained another homeless in the capital.
Official: The government is concerned. Now, we will look into what their problems are. The shutting down of the tent earlier was not right.
The official adds that it was very unfortunate that people lost their family members due to the cold.
It seems like the Delhi Government is struggling to comply with the court order. From 43 shelters, the number of the night shelters has jumped to 71 overnight.
It is evident that Delhi is nowhere even close to meeting that target of accommodating nearly one-and-a-half lakh people with basic facilities.
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