A rise in the mercury over the past few days has failed to lift the spirits of the homeless poor, who continue to be cold-shouldered by Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers tasked with shifting them to night shelters.

This year, the absence of free firewood for community bonfires, an annual BMC ritual during the winter, has added to the woes of these little-regarded castaways who live on the city streets.

Even though municipal officials have not commented on the development, reports suggest that at least three of these destitutes perished due to the intense cold spell in the city over the last ten days.

In a knee-jerk reaction to the reports, BMC bosses tas

entrusted ward officials with the 'unpleasant' task of shifting these sometimes 'smelly' vagrants to night shelters, they were told to use BMC vehicles for the job.

Though a guarded statement was issued to the media, sources in the civic body say that ward officials were told to ensure that no destitute deaths took place in their jurisdictions.

In keeping with typical municipal ingenuity, photographs of ward officials surveying their precincts for the homeless have become a part of the daily media brief issued by the BMC in what is only partial compliance with the orders.

Closer scrutiny suggests that ward officials are only shooing the homeless away and not transporting them to night shelters.

Tina Yadav, the civic official in charge of the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM), which is responsible for the homeless, said that she would look into the matter.

The homeless in the city, who often beg for a living, mainly sleep on the sidewalks on VIP Road, around bus terminals, railway stations, and in the corridors of city markets, where they are sometimes paid tiny sums to keep a vigil.