Finally, Navi Mumbai to get first night shelter

Navi Mumbai is set to open its first night shelter for the homeless and destitute in time for Diwali. The shelter can accommodate 100 people and has been funded by the state and central governments. The facility will provide basic necessities such as mattresses, blankets, and healthcare services. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation plans to open more shelters in the future.

There is a Diwali gift awaiting the homeless and the destitute in Navi Mumbai as the civic body is likely to open the doors of its first night shelter by month-end.

Navi Mumbai, India - Nov. 3, 2023:First night shelter for the homeless at Ghansholi in Navi Mumbai, India, on Friday, November 3, 2023. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

The ground-plus-three structure on a 533.47 square metre plot in sector 4, Ghansoli, has a capacity to accommodate 100 people. About ₹2.33 crore has been spent on its construction.

“This shelter has been financed by the state and the Central government under its Deen Dayal Anodaya Yojna of National Urban Development plan,” Shriram Pawar, deputy municipal commissioner (social welfare), said.

As per the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) plan, the ground floor will have a kitchen, a canteen, a room for the physically challenged and a toilet. The first floor will have a hall for men, a service room and a toilet. While the second floor will have a hall for women, a service room and a toilet, the third floor will house four independent rooms for families, a kitchen, a service room, a toilet etc.

Civic officials said the centre with dormitories will be equipped with basic requirements such as mattresses, blankets and drinking water along with primary health facilities.

Work on the shelter began in 2017 and was completed in 2019. After the pandemic struck it was used as a Covid-19 centre, Pawar said.

Nitin Kandhari, a social activist, said, “Absence of a shelter has resulted in several people residing under the flyovers in Belapur, Sanpada and other places. They have set up temporary sheds and undertake their daily activities there leading to unhygienic conditions.”

The Ghansoli shelter will provide some relief to those who have no place to go especially during monsoon and bad weather conditions, he said and added that NMMC should plan more such centres.

Pawar said NMMC has called for a ₹55-lakh annual tender for operation and maintenance of the facility. “It will be finalised soon, and we plan to inaugurate it this month.”

NMMC had first started a night shelter in 2011 at Shramik Nagar in Pawane MIDC. It, however, did not work as it was located in a remote area in the industrial belt, around 4 km from Turbhe and Koparkhairane railway stations. Another one was built at sector 21 in Turbhe but it had to be shut after local residents took objection to incidents of inmates creating a ruckus after drinking sessions.

According to Pawar, NMMC is awaiting approval for constructing another shelter in sector 2, Koparkhairane.

As per a Supreme Court order, it is mandatory to have a night shelter in a city with a population of more than five lakh people.