Activists working with homeless persons in the city have criticised the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB)’s alleged inaction in repairing the Yamuna Pushta night shelter damaged in the storm on May 30. DUSIB officials said the agency was in the process of relocating the shelters. The shelter houses 70 persons in winter and its occupancy is between 30 and 40 in summer months.
In a letter to the Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, activists with the Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) have pointed out that during a storm on May 30, the DUSIB’s night shelter Code 126 at Yamuna Pushta was destroyed completely and parts of the shelter were blown away.
“We have written to the DUSIB several times requesting the shelter be repaired immediately, but they have not taken any steps to repair and restore broken parts of the shelter. This is inconveniencing the occupants,” said Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development. “Several mails were sent to the DUSIB asking for it to be repaired. The shelter has not been repaired till now and continues to be in a dilapidated condition,” he added.
Kamal Malhotra, director (Night Shelter) DUSIB said the agency was in the process of relocating four shelters in the area. “We are shifting four shelters from Yamuna Pushta to Dandi Park. We are required to vacate the land for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC),” said Mr Malhotra.
The DUSIB currently operates 184 shelters.
DUSIB officials said the agency got two plots from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and had planned building new shelters for homeless residents. “Two shelters will be in Dwarka, three will be set up in Rohini, of which one is functional and one’s land is in the process of being acquired. There will be one in Narela, and one in Ghazipur,” said a DUSIB official.
In its survey of June 16-18, the DUSIB had found 16,760 homeless residents in 269 spots, of which over 11,000 were on the streets and 5,000 were in existing shelters. Civil society members had disputed the figures as well the methodology and process of carrying out the survey.
