With a fall in temperature following the onset of winter, the State Government has directed the urban local bodies (ULBs) and Municipal Corporations to get prepared with an action plan to ensure that homeless persons do not languish under the open sky.
The municipal commissioners of all corporations and executive officers of municipalities and NACs have been asked to take up site-specific actions to rescue homeless persons and arrange temporary shelters for them, said an official of the State Urban Development Agency (SUDA)
They have been directed to ensure all required facilities including proper bed, drinking water, toilet as well as sanitisers and hand wash facility in view of Covid-19. If required, the ULBs have also been asked to use any unused building or government building, with structural safety certification, as a temporary shelter for the homeless.
As per the survey conducted by the Housing and Urban Development department, the number of homeless people is counted at 13,651 in the State. To provide shelter to them, the State has 43 Urban Shelters for Homeless (SUHs) to house these people temporarily.