As temp dips, Sisodia takes stock of night shelters for homeless

To ensure that no one is left out in the cold, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also appealed to people to contact the night shelters’ control room through helpline numbers (011-23378789 and 011-23370560)

With the meteorological department predicting cold days ahead, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday took stock of arrangements made by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to provide the homeless with shelter. The government has established food and lodging facilities for homeless people across 195 shelter homes, which can accommodate over 17,000 people.

A shelter run by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board at Nigambodh Ghat. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said The Delhi government is determined to provide every person, including homeless people, residing in the Capital with a dignified life. (HT Photo)

To ensure that no one is left out in the cold, Sisodia also appealed to people to contact the night shelters’ control room through helpline numbers (011-23378789 and 011-23370560) if they come across people living in the streets.

“The Delhi government is determined to provide every person, including homeless people, residing in the Capital with a dignified life to. To ensure that no one is left out in the cold during the peak winter season, the government has established food and lodging facilities for homeless people across 195 shelter homes which have the capacity of accommodating over 17,000 people. The government will increase the capacity of these shelters if needed. Contact can also be established with the control room of the night shelters through helpline numbers,” Sisodia said.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Capital’s mercury has gradually begun to dip, following the departure of a western disturbance which saw Delhi’s maximum temperature touch 28.4 degrees Celsius (°C) on Sunday, Delhi’s highest in nearly a month – since it recorded 29.5°C on November 15. It dipped to 27.1°C on Monday and was recorded at 26.8°C on Tuesday. IMD has forecast a gradual drop to 25°C by Thursday. The minimum temperature too is expected to dip due to the influence of colder northwesterly winds. While the minimum temperature was recorded at 8.9°C on Tuesday, IMD’s forecast shows this can dip to around 6°C by Thursday.

Like every year, the Delhi government has set up multiple temporary shelters besides permanent shelters to accommodate homeless people. The winter action plan -- a detailed plan for providing accommodation, picking up homeless people from streets and providing them food -- was launched on November 15.

DUSIB chief executive officer K Mahesh said they have set up 15 rescue teams, each equipped with one vehicle, for surveillance and rescuing the homeless. “So far over 1,500 homeless people have been rescued by these teams in the past few weeks. On receiving information from the DUSIB control room or from any other sources the rescue teams immediately respond to pick up the homeless from the identified location and take them to the nearest shelter home,” Mahesh said.

The 195 night shelters for homeless people in Delhi include 19 for families, 17 for women, four for drug addicts, and three recovery shelters. The facilities provided to the people in these government shelter homes include food, lodging, lockers, complaint boxes, ambulance and free medical facilities, etc. Along with this, people staying at shelter homes can also avail free medical services at any Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic located nearby, said Mahesh.