lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, on Friday, reviewed the preparedness of various authorities for the ensuing winter with respect to night shelters in Delhi. While Jung directed to stop the use of buses as night shelters, he also directed to weed out old blankets completely and those usable to be dry cleaned by next week. Thousands of homeless in Delhi should get new blankets and be served tea and rusks every morning at night shelters, Jung ordered on Friday.
The directive came a day after Union Urban Development Minister
Venkaiah Naidu asked Jung about the preparedness of the Delhi Government to save the homeless during the winter.
Jung reviewed the preparedness at the night shelters.
He was informed that there are 85 permanent night shelters and 102 porta cabins and 18 tented accommodations. Delhi has a homeless population between 60,000 and 1,00,000.
Jung asked the Delhi Urban Slum Improvement Board (DUSIB) to serve
tea and rusks to
each person at
night shelters from December 1. He asked officials to discard old blankets and get the usable ones dry cleaned by next week.
A statement from the lG House stated that “40,000 brand new blankets shall be added to the existing capacity”. Jung directed the authorities that no bus should be used to house the homeless during winters. They will be housed in permanent structures or porta cabins.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has been directed to ensure that water tanks at night shelters are filled daily, and in places where there is greater demand, filled twice a day. The DUSIB has been asked to double the capacity of water tanks from 500 litres to 1,000 litres in places where there is greater demand.
The Health Secretary has been directed to ensure that each night shelter gets visited by a mobile clinic twice a week. Besides, the Secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD) has been directed to carry out all repairs in the next two weeks. Municipal Commissioners have been directed to provide mobile toilet vans on site. Jung said that surprise checks and inspections of night shelters would be conducted by his office and Secretary-level officers and “any laxity observed shall not be overlooked”.