As night temperature dipped further from 10 degree Celsius to 7.8 degree here on Sunday night, the homeless and destitute people were the worst sufferer of the continuing cold wave conditions.
Having no shelter to get protection from the biting cold, hundreds of people are now sleeping on floors of the railway station, bus stand, shop verandahs and worshipping sites, thanks to the apathetic attitude of the district administration.
According to weatherman, the cold condition would continure for next few days.
Although the district administration constructed a night shelter near the FM College here to accommodate 50 homeless persons, still it has not been made operational since its inauguration in August.
The shelter has been built mainly to accommodate jobless, rag pickers, abandoned ones and persons with psychiatric disorders
“As mercury is dipping in Baleswar district, rickshaw-pullers, jobless, mentally-challenged and rag pickers and the homeless are encountering untold woes. They are sleeping on shop verandahs, railway platforms, bus stand or under the open sky as the shelter home set up by the municipality is yet to be operational,” lamented an intellectual.
When contacted, municipality Executive Officer, Kanhu Charan Malik said, “The night shelter couldn’t be made operational due to certain technical reasons. Since its management will be handed over to an NGO, the selection process is still on.”