DUSIB to conduct drive to spread awareness about facilities at its shelters for homeless

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) will conduct an awareness drive this week to inform the homeless about the facilities being provided by it under its winter action plan, officials said on Monday.

Thirty volunteers have been working for rescue drives and 15 rescue vans have been deployed at several locations in the city.

''There are two volunteers in each rescue van and so far, 15 such vans have been deployed across the city. We will also start another awareness drive so that more homeless people can avail the benefits we are providing under our winter action plan,'' DUSIB member Bipin Rai told PTI.

The awareness drive will be started by Wednesday.

Cold wave swept through parts of Delhi on Monday and dense fog lowered visibility to 50 metres in some areas of the city.

As the temperature has been dropping in the national capital, around 150 tents have been set up at 33 locations so far by the DUSIB for the homeless.

''So far we have set up 150 tents with all the facilities that we have been providing at our shelter homes. We have been increasing the number of tents as per requirements in the city,'' he said.

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung on Sunday had settled at 16.2 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal and the lowest so far this season.

The mercury had dropped to 3 degrees Celsius in the Ridge area, 4.9 degrees below normal, making it the coldest place in the capital.

The Delhi government has launched the winter action plan for the homeless which includes providing food and lodging facilities across all shelter homes in the national capital.

A 24×7 centralised control room has been set up and multiple helpline numbers (14461, 011-23378789 and 011-23370560) have been issued by the DUSIB.

The existing 195 night shelters for the homeless 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 accommodation, lockers, three meals per day, free medicines and ambulance.

People staying at the shelter homes can also avail free medical services at any Mohalla Clinic.

Earlier, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena had paid a surprise visit to night shelters at ISBT and near Hanuman Mandir and took stock of the arrangements and amenities at these centres. He had claimed that there is a lack of sanitation and toilets in the shelter homes, “forcing people to defecate in open.” “While about 5,000 homeless people inhabited the area, the total capacity of night shelters at the sites was only 600. Apart from this, even as the shelters provided food only to occupants registered with the shelters, there were thousands who were dependent upon charity for the same,” a statement from the LG office said on Saturday.

According to the statement, there is a lack of cleanliness at the shelter homes at ISBT and the one adjacent to Hanuman Mandir due to disposal of paper, plastic plates and cups in the open.

''Thousands are forced to defecate in the open in the national capital, even as remote areas in the country were achieving the goal of open defecation-free India. This, apart from causing direct pollution to flow into an already polluted Yamuna, was also depriving poor people of basic personal dignity and exposing them to various health hazards,” the statement said. PTI ABU SMN SMN