GB Nagar gears up for winter, to ready shelter, warm centres for homeless

Necessary guidelines have been issued to officials to take up measures so that the poor and the homeless do not have to bear the brunt of the cold weather

With winter round the corner, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration is gearing up for the cold days and has issued an advisory on Monday directing local bodies to take necessary steps to cater to the destitute during the cold wave conditions.

On Monday, the minimum temperature in Gautam Budh Nagar was 13.3 degrees Celsius (°C), while the maximum temperature was 23°C. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

District magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said the local authorities and stakeholders must prepare shelter homes across the district for the homeless to spend the nights, and also other measures such as setting up of warm centres to provide relief to the public from the cold weather conditions.

Verma said, “Necessary guidelines have been issued to officials to take up measures so that the poor and the homeless do not have to bear the brunt of the cold weather. Directions have been issued to set up temporary shelters across the district to accommodate the homeless, daily wagers, labourers, and the destitute. We have also instructed the stakeholders to set up warm centres such as bonfires at various spots and public places so that people can keep warm.”

“Adequate clean drinking water, toilets, mattresses and quilts will be ensured at the shelter homes,” the DM said.

Verma said efforts will be taken up to ensure that adequate facilities are provided to the homeless/poor people to ensure that the cold does not cause them illness or result in death by sleeping out in the open.

Additional district magistrate (finance and revenue) Atul Kumar said, “All ADMs, tehsildars, administrative officials, Noida and Greater Noida authority officials, nagar palika, and nagar panchayat officials, among others, have been directed to take necessary steps. They have been asked to prepare a detailed report and provide information about the steps that have been taken.”

“The departments have been asked to set up shelter homes and provide details about caretakers assigned duties, their contacts details and information regarding the spots selected for setting up bonfires along with photographs of the identified places. These details have to be provided within seven days,” said district disaster expert, Gautam Budh Nagar, Omkar Chaturvedi.

On Monday, the minimum temperature in Gautam Budh Nagar was 13.3 degrees Celsius (°C), while the maximum temperature was 23°C. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted the minimum temperature to hover around 12°C and the maximum to remain between 25 and 26°C with possibility of fog or mist till December 3.