BHUBANESWAR: With falling temperatures and the number of homeless people growing, there is need for permanent night shelters in the city. With the Capital attracting many with assurance of some income, the influx of homeless labourers is on the rise. There is a direction by the Supreme Court to construct night shelters across major cities in the country. The 2001 census showed that around 1.94 million people are homeless in India.The Supreme Court has directed the state governments to provide adequate night shelters for the homeless during winter. With the minimum temperatures in the city hovering between 15 and 17 degree Celsius, the survival of the homeless has just become tougher. A few of these homeless people, who are migrant labourers from Bihar and Western Odisha, have found a temporary place to stay near Master Canteen. Their main source of income is balloon-selling and they were not even aware of the existence of night shelters.The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has approached the General Administration Department for land for construction of night shelters, but without any luck. BMC has proposed construction of five night shelters in the coming year. Three of them will be located in Bomikhal, Ashoknagar and Kharvelanagar.Currently there are two night shelters in the city. One is at Hudasahi near Gyannagar and the other is at Malisahi. Both the night shelters have a capacity to accommodate 100 people. However, while Hudasahi shelter at present accommodates around 30 homeless a day, the one at Malisahi shelters around 25.“We provide them with blankets and food during the night,” said Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena. The reason for the low attendance could be the resistance of the homeless to relocate. Many a time, the homeless refuse to relocate as their workplace will be far from the night shelter.BMC has collaboration with Xaviers Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, on relocation of homeless. The students relocate them during the night and carry them to the temporary night shelters in vehicles.
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