New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has ordered the Delhi government to provide the one-and-a-half lakh homeless in the city with food, shelter, clothing and toilet facilities.
The deadline was Wednesday evening but as of Thursday night, there were countless spots in the capital where the homeless could be seen braving the cold.
Many of them who found shelter at a park were asked to vacate because of Republic Day preparations. They are now living on the roadside in front of the biggest hotels and massive government bungalows in the Capital.
Overnight, the municipality provided temporary shelters, tents and empty government offices at odds with its own beautification drive for which it had been demolishing night shelters. The temporary shelter facility was stopped by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as they wanted to beautify the park for the Commonwealth Games.
After the order, the facility has now restarted and the tents have come up. But the blankets are not enough. Also, there is no drinking water.
Meanwhile, the homeless have their own set of grievances. ''My granddaughter died of the cold. What could we do? We are homeless. We sleep outside.'', said one of them. ''Bhima died of the cold. He tried to cover himself but the blanket fell short. Then Shetty died in the cold,'' retorted the other.
The government has taken measures to take care of the homeless but it seems too little, too late for the huge numbers concerned. Many are still forced to sleep out in the open under the sky during nights. All they have is hope to survive yet another night.
The deadline was Wednesday evening but as of Thursday night, there were countless spots in the capital where the homeless could be seen braving the cold.
Many of them who found shelter at a park were asked to vacate because of Republic Day preparations. They are now living on the roadside in front of the biggest hotels and massive government bungalows in the Capital.
Overnight, the municipality provided temporary shelters, tents and empty government offices at odds with its own beautification drive for which it had been demolishing night shelters. The temporary shelter facility was stopped by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) as they wanted to beautify the park for the Commonwealth Games.
After the order, the facility has now restarted and the tents have come up. But the blankets are not enough. Also, there is no drinking water.
Meanwhile, the homeless have their own set of grievances. ''My granddaughter died of the cold. What could we do? We are homeless. We sleep outside.'', said one of them. ''Bhima died of the cold. He tried to cover himself but the blanket fell short. Then Shetty died in the cold,'' retorted the other.
The government has taken measures to take care of the homeless but it seems too little, too late for the huge numbers concerned. Many are still forced to sleep out in the open under the sky during nights. All they have is hope to survive yet another night.
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