The arrival of the winter season has made raen baseras or night shelter homes a necessity for the urban homeless. Considering the dipping mercury levels, Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has made adequate arrangements for the street dwellers with facilities like beds, woolen blankets, drinking water in place to welcome the homeless.
Presently RMC has 11 raen baseras operational in the City in localities like Birsa Munda Bus stand, RIMS, Seva Sadan Hospital and Jagannathpur among others.
The shelter homes are operated by NGO’s which are selected by the Director of Municipal Administration. A shelter management committee is also appointed at each of these homes which is responsible for providing the facilities to the visitors.
“An advisory has been issued to all the operators regarding the winter season and in case of any requirements they have been directed to get in touch with the health officer. The homeless or destitute can approach the facilities where they will be fairly accommodated as per the provision. A proposal is also being made for the beautification work of the existing homes with better facilities which will be implemented in times to come,” said Municipal Commissioner Mukesh Kumar.
The shelter homes are equipped with all the basic facilities like beds, clean drinking water, food and toilets. For the winter months, the civic body has also ensured the availability of woolen blankets, room heaters and provision for a bonfire as and when required. The civil work required in some of the facilities has also been completed
Officials from the civic body also inspect these homes on a regular basis. Depending on the locality, each of the shelter homes have been provided with beds and mattresses. The one located near RIMS witnesses a lot of medical cases while the one at Kantatoli Chowk has a lot of travellers who halt for the night.
The operators of these homes have also been directed to rescue any homeless or destitute person found in a radius of three kilometers from the premises and provide them with the basic medical facility and other provision.