Construction of the second shelter home for the homeless being facilitated by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) is expected to be completed in December this year.
In addition to this, the MDDA has also held talks with the Dehradun district administration on the issue of provision of shelter for the homeless in the State capital. The MDDA has conveyed its willingness to construct yet another shelter home for the destitute if the required land is provided by the district administration for this purpose.
It is pertinent to mention here that the MDDA vice chairman R Meenakshi Sundaram has directed that coordinated effort be made by the MDDA along with the district administration and Social Welfare department to ascertain the status of homeless population in Dehradun and facilitate the construction of shelters for the homeless as required.
Talking to The Pioneer, the MDDA secretary Prakash Chandra Dumka said that the Rain Basera shelter for the homeless constructed in the Chukkhuwala locality by the MDDA in 2009 is being managed well with the involvement of the district administration and Municipal Corporation of Dehradun.
This shelter has capacity for sheltering about 100 persons including separate accommodation for homeless women. He said, “On its own, the MDDA is already constructing a shelter home for the destitute at Transport Nagar. At an estimated expense of about Rs 40 lakh, the construction of this building with capacity to shelter about 100 persons is expected to be completed by December 20.”
“In addition to this, I have also talked to the Dehradun district magistrate Ravinath Raman and the additional district magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Jharna Kamthan. While the MDDA is constructing the shelter in Transport Nagar, we have told the district administration that if they are able to provide the required area of land the MDDA is ready to construct a shelter for the homeless,” said the MDDA secretary.
It is worth mentioning here that though the number of homeless people is estimated to have increased in Dehradun in recent years, the authorities reportedly do not have data on the number of homeless persons in Dehradun.
Advent of the winter season compounds the woes of the homeless, so the MDDA shelter at Transport Nagar might prove to be a major relief for the destitute in the area.