The Hindu 23.07.2012
Mangalore City Corporation plans a permanent night shelter
The building at old port area will accommodate 100 persons
Refuge:The temporary night shelter near Urwa Market in Mangalore houses 40 inmates.— PHOTO: H.S. MANJUNATH
The Mangalore City Corporation would set up a permanent
night shelter at old port area for those sleeping on pavements,
bus-stands, and railway stations, said Commissioner of the corporation
Harish Kumar K.
The civic body would set up the
shelter on its own site at an estimated cost of Rs. 60 lakh. The State
Government would allocate the fund, he told
The Hindu
.
There is an old building on the site. It would be
demolished and the shelter would be built to accommodate 100 people. The
construction would take sometime as the design of the building was yet
to be finalised, he said.
Mr. Kumar said that now
that the corporation had two temporary night shelters. It was managed by
a non-governmental organisation. The one near Sharavu Temple had 20
inmates and the other near Urwa Market had 40 inmates.
A
survey conducted a fortnight ago found 130 people, including the 60
inmates, “houseless” in the city. As they could not be accommodated in
temporary shelters, the civic body had asked the owner of a high rise
building which was not in use near the temple to accommodate the
“houseless” temporarily. The high-rise building was formerly a hotel and
the owner was in Mumbai. Talks were on to get the building temporarily.
He said that since it was rainy season more people, mainly migrant
workers, used bus-stands and railway stations to sleep at night.
Mr. Kumar said the civic body was now conducting a survey of “houseless” in the city every fortnight.
The
Supreme Court in 2010 had asked urban local bodies to conduct a survey
of people who slept on pavements. It had asked urban local bodies to set
up temporary night shelters and make arrangements for constructing
permanent ones.