Migrants give ‘distant’ Raen Baseras a miss

Tribune News Service

Harshraj Singh

Ludhiana, December 29

Despite claims by the Municipal Corporation of proper arrangements at its ‘Raen Baseras’ to house the homeless, a number of people, particularly migrants, have been preferring to sleep on footpaths or under flyovers amid biting cold due to the “far-away” location of these night shelters.

Of its four shelters, the MC has opened three this winter — at Hambran Road, Vishwakarma Chowk and Ghoda Colony (near Cheema Chowk). The one near Clock Tower and railway station wasn’t made operational as its building was found to be “unsafe”, said an official.

The civic body has even deployed two buses to ferry the homeless from various parts to the shelters every night. Still, a number of people can be seen sleeping in the open near Shri Durga Mata temple, Jagraon Bridge, Mata Rani Chowk and Bhadaur House. A few migrant workers rued that there was no facility to drop them back the next morning, and that they “couldn’t afford auto-rickshaw fare”.

“An MC bus comes daily around 10 pm. But many don’t go due to the distant location of the shelters. I too took the bus once, but had to walk several km to return in the morning,” said a daily-wager sleeping near Shri Durga Mata temple. He said contractors looking to hire workers on a daily basis only visited fixed locations, and that too early morning. Some homeless prefer to stay put near shrines due to the lure of free meals during ‘langars’. The Hambran Road Raen Basera is about 6 km from Shri Durga Mata temple while the one near Ghoda Colony is 5 km away.

A former councillor, Parminder Mehta, said the Clock Tower shelter was the most preferred as it was located near the railway station and Chaura Bazaar. “No alternative steps were taken to set up any new shelter near prominent places for the convenience of migrant workers,” he said.

MC Joint Commissioner Kulpreet Singh said they had made proper arrangements, including bus pick-up and food (through ‘langar’), for the homeless at night shelters. On Wednesday night, 115 persons stayed at the three shelters, he said.

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