The Chennai Corporation will open eight more night shelters for the homeless, taking the number of such facilities to 23. The new night shelters will be set up in Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Alandur, Sholinganallur, Madhavaram, Ambattur, Valasaravakkam and Perungudi.
On Thursday, Corporation Health Department officials and members of a Supreme Court-appointed committee started inspection of the existing 15 night shelters. The inspection will be completed on Friday and a report submitted to the Supreme Court. The officials visited Koyambedu, Chintadripet, Vallal Seethakadhi Nagar, Kodungaiyur, Kannnapar Thidal, Doomingkuppam and Thattankulam.
They inspected infrastructure and other amenities at the night shelter in Kannappar Thidal, where nearly 100 families shifted from streets near Ripon Building and Periamet have been living for the past few years. The facility is the only night shelter for families. Other facilities give shelter to those who do not have any family support. The shelters have locker facilities for those who stay there.
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The civic body has also planned to open a night shelter exclusively for women in Koyambedu.
The total number of night shelters required in the city is 66 and this has been arrived at based on the directions of the Supreme Court. The Chennai Corporation will identify NGOs for maintenance of some of the new shelters, officials of the civic body said.
Over 11,000 homeless people were identified in a survey based on which the night shelters were opened. But, the civic body has not carried out any survey of the homeless after the expansion of the Corporation limits.
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