5 months ago
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The authoritative capableness of nighttime shelters for the stateless successful the city, arsenic reported successful Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) regular datasets, appears to beryllium outdated and inflated, The Hindu has found.
According to DUSIB’s structure homes occupancy report, the full capableness crossed 186 imperishable shelters is 15,916 people, with little than 30% of the capableness utilized implicit the past week. A abstracted DUSIB district-wise nighttime structure database shows a capableness for 6,551 radical nether the ‘revised category’. The mismatch poses a stark question astir the evident underutilisation of specified shelters during wintertime successful Delhi, which has a stateless colonisation of implicit 3 lakh.
When reached for comment, the structure committee did not respond.
‘Inflated figure’
A erstwhile DUSIB authoritative said adjacent the capableness successful the occupancy study is “inflated and not updated”. The authoritative said that 2 years ago, the occupancy fig was revised successful accordance with the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) norms to guarantee that each stateless idiosyncratic successful a structure location has astatine slightest 50 sq. ft. of space. The serviceman said the occupancy fig was based connected the fig of radical sleeping connected the floor. However, with the instauration of cots successful the shelter, the occupancy fig sharply reduced, which is not reflected successful the report.
Ground checks by The Hindu recovered that structure homes astatine Lodhi Road, Kalkaji, Kashmere Gate, Sarai Kale Khan, Mori Gate, and Yamuna Bazar were operating beneath oregon supra capacity, contradicting DUSIB records.
Contradictions aplenty
At a Sarai Kale Khan porta compartment shelter, the full capableness is listed arsenic 20, but the occupancy reached 46 past week. Nearby, a household structure with 16 beds lists a capableness of 20. Another porta compartment adjacent the Sarai Kale Khan autobus terminal shows a capableness for 72, but lone 54 beds are available, with occupancy exceeding 100 past week.
At a structure location successful Phool Mandi, Mori Gate, the capableness is 100, but the study lists 250. The structure has astir 30 azygous beds, immoderate of which are combined to accommodate much people.
These contradictions suggest that some the archetypal and revised capacities are not updated to bespeak the existent infrastructure, thereby providing an inaccurate representation of existent occupancy.
Meanwhile, among the shelters that amusement nary occupancy information implicit the past 30 days are 2 children’s shelters astatine Kashmere Gate. However, their caretakers told The Hindu that “they are operational, and they nonstop attendance reports daily”.
‘NULM guidelines flouted’
Jatin Sharma, erstwhile manager of the Centre for Equity Studies, an NGO that works with the homeless, said the NULM guidelines connected locations and capableness are not followed. “Many imperishable shelters and porta cabins are present moved to low-concentration and far-off areas specified arsenic Narela, Rohini, and Dwarka without immoderate survey,” helium said.
Mr. Sharma added that the stateless colonisation successful Delhi is concentrated successful cardinal and Old Delhi and adjacent railway stations, places of worship and factories, wherever alternatively of expanding, shelters are being unopen down. “The stateless enactment successful tiny eateries oregon markets, oregon arsenic waiters, and shifting them to distant locations is not an option,” helium said.
Mr. Sharma said since 2023, 9 shelters person been demolished and 5 unopen down, mostly on the Yamuna. Eight much projected demolitions astatine Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar are being contested successful the Supreme Court, arsenic the projected relocations stay afloat successful winter.
DUSIB has planned to instal 200-250 impermanent tents with a capableness of 2,500 this winter.
