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Ahmedabad’s homeless to get night shelters

Civic body plans to construct six dormitory-type community night shelters with a capacity to accommodate 100 each.

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The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has spared a thought for the city's homeless. If all goes as per plans, you may no longer spot the destitute lying in a huddle on city roads on rainy, wintry nights. The civic body plans to have community night shelters soon, that will provide a roof to the homeless.

In keeping with Supreme Court guidelines and at the state government's insistence, the civic body will set up six dormitory-like community night shelters, where footpath dwellers and the shelterless can spend the night. The AMC has already invited bids for the construction of the first two at Odhav and Behrampura.

"The night shelters will have bathrooms and toilets, but will only serve as accommodation for the night. In the proposed two shelters, we intend to accommodate around 50 people each," said municipal commissioner IP Gautam. He said that the AMC has kept a financial provision of Rs1 crore in the budget for the year 2009 for this. However, whether the homeless will have to pay for accommodation at the night shelter, is yet to decided.

Interestingly, the buildings that will house the homeless at night will become activity and training centres by the day. The AMC, in its tender, has also kept a provision for the night shelters to be designed such that a part of space could be given out at concession rates to charitable - religious trusts, or be used as community centres, temples, dispensaries or knitting centres.

The AMC is looking for partners to operate and maintain the night shelters. "If an NGO comes forward to partner the project, we will be able to provide better facilities. The AMC will construct the facility and the NGO could manage and maintain it," he said. The AMC does not have the exact number of the homeless in the city, but will get the figures from census results, he said.

As per the guidelines, the civic body needs to construct one night shelter per lakh of the population.

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