Shelter homes offer scant respite

VARANASI: For Lalchand, a rickshaw puller, it was yet another night to be spent braving cold winds in a torn blanket under a tin shade near the city railway station.
"Few days back I came to know about a nearby night shelter, but it was so dirty that I could not stay there for long. There would be no problem even if a bonfire was lit at least at night," said the rickshaw puller, a native of Bihar.He works as a labourer during the day and pulls rickshaw at night to earn a little extra.
With the continuous dip in the mercury level bringing minimum temperature to 9.5 degrees on Thursday and dense fog forced the city people to stay indoors.
According to weather experts the situation will worsen in coming days as rain showers are expected in the region that will cause further dip in temperature. The harsh weather conditions have posed much difficulty for people who do not have any shelter. Although the administration claims of taking sufficient measures to help such people by providing night shelters and bonfires at various places across the city but the ground realities are far from being satisfactory on this front.
Out of 12, as many as 11 night shelters are functional in the city. One shelter home at Chowkaghat is serving as the zonal office of Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC). Rain Basera (night shelters) are provided by the district administration for providing shelter to thousands of destitute dwelling in the city. These night shelters have been permanently built for proper functioning from last year but lack proper maintenance as per the norms and guidelines issued by ministry of Urban Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. During a visit at these shelter homes it was found that only four or five and in some cases even lesser number of people chose to spent night at these shelter homes during past few days despite continuous decrease in temperature.
Municipal commissioner Umakant Tripathi was clueless about the reason of less people opting for shelter homes even in such cold weather. "I visited some of the shelter homes in Cantonment and city station areas and found that only two or three people took shelter at these homes although the condition and facilities were up to the mark there. I am not sure what is the reason behind this," said Tripathi.
Meanwhile, bonfires were lit at as many as 145 places on Wednesday said the municipal commissioner. "Considering further fall in the temperature, at least 20-25 bonfires more will be arranged on Thursday," he further added. Maldahiya, Rathyatra, Maidagin, Gadaulia, Durgakund and Lanka are some of the prominent crossings and places where bonfires are being lit.
Though, some of the passengers waiting for the bus and trains on Wednesday night complained about absence of bonfires near bus and railway stations. "I had to board a bus at 9.30 pm for Lucknow for which I had already booked my ticket, but the bus was running late due to fog and I had to wait near the roadways bus stand. There was no bonfire or any other facility to give a little relief from such harsh cold," said Ashutosh Pandey, a resident of trans-Varuna area.
Meanwhile, considering the bad weather conditions, the district administration has ordered the schools up to class XII to remain closed till January 12. Also the Anganbadi centres in the district will also be closed till January 11. Though the anganbadi workers will utilize this period to do their departmental works at their respective centres. The weekly 'Poshahar' distribution will be done at the camps organised for the purpose.