Amid night shelters, homeless people were forced to sleep on footpaths.
Nagpur: Noor unexpectedly found himself helpless from last Sunday, when the road that had been his home was abandoned after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Janata Curfew. The mentally unstable man, who had been on the road outside the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology (LIT) for almost a year, used to feel at home on the footpath.
Barely able to say his name, Noor had become a familiar face for street vendors who not only provided him with food, clothes but also arranged bedding for him on the footpath. Everything changed, however, after the lockout was extended.
After Sunday, a confused Noor has been seen spending his time alone, hoping for help from his parents. Most such homeless people like him can be seen spending their lives on the footpath of Khamla Square, Sitabuldi, Alankar Square and other areas. Interestingly, pavement dwellers are still on the streets despite almost half of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) beds— five homeless shelters remain empty.
As per NMC officials, there are only 112 beds in all five shelters, which means 108 are still empty.
Nevertheless, some NGOs argued that these shelters allow only men to enter while families are forbidden, which is precisely why these migrants have been seen walking along the roads with their wives and children.
“As the world is trapped in the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been undertaking a three-way awareness drive related to deadly disease— University Library Square, Yeshwant Stadium and Santra Market— where families usually live,” Kiran Kalantari, a founder of Upay City NGO, who has worked for homeless children for many years, told TOI.
A collective of 10 to 15 families living near University Library Square earns a living by selling home decoration pieces. The NGO’s assistance came as a timely bonus to them, as they had lost their only source of income since the lockdown had been implemented. “The NGO leaders are helping us out not only by providing food for at least three days but also by providing liquid soaps and masks to all of us,” said Shankar Chakar, one of the pavement dwellers.
Kalantari said that Upay was in communication with several other NGOs for providing ration and other regular necessities to homeless people in the region.
In a press release, the NMC instructed its officials to provide free food to shelter inmates. In addition, if any of them have symptoms such as cough, cold, fever and trouble breathing, proper treatment should be given and sent to the test centres if the condition is severe.
“Inmates have also been advised on how to practice hygiene and wash their hands with soap at regular intervals to protect themselves from the disease. Masks were also distributed after hearing of their value, “the press release said.
