Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board today said it is fully prepared and well equipped to provide facilities to the homeless in winter, though doing so can be a major challenge in the coming years as migration to NCR is increasing everyday.
"We had already formulated a plan in September. All arrangements are done. We are fully prepared and well equipped to deal with winter season," DUSIB Director (Night Shelter/ Assets and Management) Kamal Malhotra said.
"We have ordered 20,000 blankets, 5 thousand darees and 5000 sqft jute mat. We had floated an open tender and all the material will be available very soon", he told PTI.
He further said,"migration is also one challenge we are facing. Things must be done to curb the everyday inching shelter seekers. In long term destitute should be curbed from coming to the National Capital Region (NCR) by bringing up more measures to make them stay in their original habitat.
"There growing number is becoming a problem for us day by day. They have become a liability...We have no place to take them... The biggest problem is that there is no major centre for drug addicts in Delhi...So they are continuing living in night shelters.
"We have total 184 night shelters across the capital that can serve nearly 14,500 people but if things go like this there will a problem to meet their needs," he said.
Showing concern for the lives of these homeless he said, "They can not be let to sleep on roadside. Hence we are bound to make more night shelters. We have purchased 7000 sqft from DDA...You can say 7 plots in different areas of Delhi, and work to buy another area of same measure is on the verge of finalisation," Malhotra said adding they are also coming up with two more shelters, one of which will start from November 30 at Yamuna Pushta.
When asked whether homeless will be provided with medical facilities also, he answered, "Provisions of medicine is not our mandate but yes we will be taking medical help. The LG has asked to do an immediate health check-up of all the homeless".
Dr K S Bagotia, Additional Director of Health will be helping the DUSIB with his team. They will deploy mobile medical teams who will visit all the shelters and conduct check-ups, Malhotra added.
He further said that incidence of Tuberculoses and HIV is very high among the people in night shelters. Drug addicts are also there who are spreading the virus and something need to be done as soon as possible to check it.
