The Greater Chennai Corporation will construct 35 modern shelters for the homeless in the city. At present, the city has 51 such shelters.
Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has sought from officials details of the funds allocated for the construction of shelters. He has also asked them to identify sites for constructing the shelters.
Eleven sites will be identified for the construction of shelters in Tiruvottiyur, Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Ambattur, Teynampet, Valasaravakkam and Sholinganallur zones.
At a recent meeting, Mr. Bedi directed the officers to prepare estimates for the construction of 24 shelters for the homeless in Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Madhavaram, Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Ambattur, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam, Adyar and Sholinganallur. Anna Nagar, Teynampet, and Tondiarpet will account for maximum number of new shelters.
City Health Officer Jagadeesan said the new shelters will be constructed in six months. “A number of homeless persons have been identified in areas such as George Town, Kodambakkam, Koyambedu, Marina Beach, and Besant Nagar. We have 55 NGOs running the shelters. Over 1,600 people are staying in the shelters,” he said.
Stressing the need for modern shelters in all zones of the city, Dr. Jagadeesan said the Corporation has proposed to carry out another enumeration of the homeless persons in the 15 zones of the city. The previous enumeration was carried out three years ago when more than 9,000 homeless persons were identified. “The shelters will be short stay homes offering services free of cost,” he said.
Usually, women are permitted to stay in the shelters for six months. Many of the homeless are taken to the shelters with a police memo. The civic body, with support from the NGOs, also rescues homeless persons. Helpline numbers such as 1091, 181 for women and Corporation helpline 1913 are some of the facilities available for rescue of the homeless persons.
Women rescued
G.V. Williams, executive director of Myrtle Social Welfare Network, which is one of the NGOs involved in the management of homeless shelters, said a woman from Nigeria was rescued, given shelter and repatriated. “The young woman was trafficked. She escaped from Delhi to Chennai and was rescued. We wrote to the High Commission of Nigeria and got her repatriated. She has been reunited with her family with the support of the Corporation,” said Mr. Williams.
Pointing to an increase in rescue of educated young homeless women in Chennai, Sarah Williams, a trustee of the NGO, said engineering graduates from other parts of the State had been rescued, rehabilitated and reunited with their families. “A young woman, who had completed her engineering degree, was rescued recently. She is a resident of Madurai. She was looking for a job. We are doing job mediation. We are getting support from various agencies in Chennai,” said Ms. Williams.
The Corporation officials said they had rehabilitated 13 persons last week, who had secured various jobs. More than 1,000 homeless persons are rehabilitated every year in the city, the officials said.
Published - April 23, 2023 06:46 pm IST
