Families of homeless people who have been making a living under the sky, with utensils and other belongings strewn around in Town Hall area, a nerve-centre of the city, readily evoke sympathy of passersby. With money earned either through menial jobs or begging, a group of people in units of a few families cough up a living by cooking their own food.
A closer observation, however, reveals that their presence there under the very nose of the Fort Police Station has been causing enormous embarrassment to employees of government offices in the area, the public frequenting government offices, and most of all students of the Town Hall Girls' Higher Secondary School.
There has been no solution to the disturbances they cause to the people around due to the frequent brawls they indulge in, according to Subburaj, a worried parent. Unmindful of the presence of grown-up girls, they use filthy language under the influence of liquor, he lamented, adding that they are quite prone to quarrelling among themselves. Employees have to put up with the litter they create, including liquor bottles, damaged clothes and other discarded belongings. Ever since the Taluk Office was shifted to new premises at Cantonment, the homeless people have made their presence more ubiquitous, they say.
According to shopkeepers in the vicinity, the spot becomes a haven for anti-social activities such as drinking and gambling once darkness falls. Employees in government offices complain that they live in the midst of stench as the occupiers also answer nature's call in the open space around.
Though they were rehabilitated near Pirattiyur in the city outskirts a few years back, they were back in no time, said a government employee in that area.
The Town Hall area is where the government museum that attracts tourists, including foreigners; the office of the Sub-Registrar, State Government Audit Office, a Post Office, and an office of the Revenue Department are housed, and attracts several hundreds of people on a daily basis.
Acknowledging that the presence of the homeless families has been a nuisance to the public, an official of the Fort Police Station, however, said nobody had preferred a complaint against their presence so far. We can warn them to leave the spot once anybody comes forward with a complaint, the official said. Government employees are not prepared to take the risk in individual capacities. “The hesitation is because we need to go through the process of getting the concurrence of superiors to approach the police,” said one of the government employees, urging the city corporation to arrange for night shelters for such beggars, as a workable solution.
