Delhi: Night shelters only on paper

New Delhi: Last week the Delhi Development Authority demolished several brand-new Delhi government shelters for the homeless.

It said the shelters were illegal encroachments.

This week the Supreme Court has asked the DDA to re-install the tents and suspend the officers who removed them.

"This itself goes to show that one government body from the state and the other from the Centre are not on the same page,'' said Indu Prakash, a social worker.

''All government agencies need to understand that these shelters are not encroachments,'' said Rakesh Mehta, Chief Secretary, Delhi government.

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The Delhi government is now struggling to align all agencies and set up 84 temporary shelters within a week, as has been ordered by the Supreme Court to guard the homeless against the severe winter.

But what about the 64-odd permanent shelters that already exist in the government records?

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In some areas there are no shelters at all. At Baba Kharak Singh Marg, the Dilli gate area, Connaught place and Paharganj the shelters have been shut.

The homeless huddle together each night unable to bear the cold.

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''I have a shawl and no blanket. So I have to make do with this plastic sheet," said a labourer.

With people sleeping on pavements and shivering out in the cold, a drive through the city on a winter night remains a heartbreaking sight.

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