Aurangabad homeless survive storm without admin aid

AURANGABAD: Homeless families in city had a tough time dealing with the storm and rain that hit the state on Wednesday.
Most of these families have been without food and shelter for the past two months, but the district administration has not come to their aid.
The open space in front of Raj Heights, opposite MGM Hospital, witnesses around 25 people, including women and children, sleeping under the open sky on a daily basis.
When asked, a man said that he had come to the city from Kannad. “My financial situation is not good. In this city, at least we get some menial work but as there is no accommodation due to which we have no choice but to stay out in the open,” he said.
Meanwhile, people from nomadic community along the Jalna Road at Chikalthana and at Gajanan Maharaj Mandir Road had to lose their make-shift shelters due to the strong winds.
“We couldn’t sleep the whole night and now we will have to build our houses again,” a member of the community said.
Notably, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) runs night shelters for homeless people. City engineer Sakharan Panzade said that the homeless people can be taken to these shelter homes.
“We have space available and I can coordinate with assistant municipal commissioner Vijaya Ghadge to get them accommodated in night shelters but these people should stay there and not run away,” Panzade said.