Homeless people left out in the cold on Bengaluru streets

Never does Bengaluru, all through the year, feel the stinging absence of night-shelters — and the sad presence of homeless people — as it does in the first couple of weeks of January, when night temperatures go below 10 degrees Celsius. Tech City, with over 1.2 crore people, is supposed to have 120 night shelters for the homeless, as per guidelines. There are, however, just four. With one of the highest inflows of rural migrants, it is time Bengaluru paid attention to this humanitarian issue, report Akshatha M, Naveen Menezes and Tushar Kaushik

On cold wintry nights, when Bengalureans retire for the day in the warmth of their homes, a small but growing number of people seek refuge under flyovers, in bus stations and on pavements. Most of them are migrants who have left home, hearth and poor agricultural conditions to find a better income in the big city. Almost all of them end up being categorised as unskilled labour.

A survey by HRtech startup BetterPlace found that Bengaluru is one of the biggest magnets for blue-collar workers in the country. The city apparently attracts 5-7 million of an estimated 120 million blue-collar workers who move from villages to tier-I and tier-II cities for jobs. Bengaluru has displaced Delhi and Mumbai as the most preferred cities by this predominantly rural workforce.

The rising inflow of migrants, coupled with the absence of affordable housing, renders many of them — both men and women in the thousands — homeless. As night sets in, they seek space to sleep. Despite the Supreme Court’s directions for building and maintenance of night shelters in all cities, Bengaluru’s administration has done little. As per National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) guidelines issued in 2013, every city has to have one night shelter for every one lakh population.

As per the NULM guidelines, with a population of 1.2 crore, Bengaluru should have 120 night shelters, with a capacity to accommodate 100 persons each (separately for men and women). But, there are only four functioning shelters. That the administration has shown no interest in scaling up is underlined by the fact that there were 13 shelters six years ago, when the SC was monitoring the case. Factors such as delay in payment to NGOs managing night shelters, poor maintenance, lack of staff led to closure of shelters.

Recently, the BBMP said its study in the south, east and west zones of the city found only 3,921 homeless people. But, in 2010, a survey by NGOs, led by the Indo-Global Social Service Society, put the number at 17,000.

“The city administration should carry out a ward-wise survey,” said Narasimhappa TV, member of the Supreme Court-appointed Independent Impartial Committee to Oversee Shelter Homes. With this SC-appointed committee monitoring developments, the BBMP plans to set up 20 night shelters by March. “To start with, we will establish 20 shelters — both on temporary and permanent basis — and gradually increase the number,” said Randeep D, special commissioner, BBMP (Admin).