19 June,2011 07:50 AM IST | | Yoshita Sengupta
The Maharashtra government fails to commit to Supreme Court's directive to ensure shelters for the homeless. Although states should have one shelter for every one lakh population, Mumbai, a city of 2.1 crore, doesn't have even one
Rain-soaked men sit chopping raw bamboo stalks near a puddle of stagnant mosquito-breeding water. Further away, on a wet floor, under plastic sheets bent low by the weight of accumulated water, women try to light semi-dry pieces of wood. Naked children covered with big boils sit in one corner and pray that speeding cars do not splash dirty water on their already soaked bodies. No, this is not a sequence in an 'art' film set of the '80s.
A homeless family takes shelter under Tilak bridge, near the
Dadar Railway Station. Pic/Nimesh Dave
This is a description of a street in Mahim, in the heart of India's richest city. While the luckier citizens sit in their luxury apartments and enjoy the rains, over one lakh of the city's residents who have no homes struggle to keep themselves and their children dry, and, hopefully, safe from water-borne diseases.
"Monsoon is the worst time for us. The rains are unpredictable and people keep falling sick," says Ramu, 45, a homeless basket weaver. Ramu is stating a fact that Abhishek Bharadwaj, founder of NGO Alternative Realities that works for rights of homeless people in the city, reiterates. Bharadwaj has figures to support his claim. "Based on a survey we conducted in 2010, the monsoon season spells death for the homeless in Mumbai," he says.
Government apathy
In 2010, the Supreme Court directed each stateu00a0 in the country to provide at least one shelter for the homeless per one lakh population. "Each state was asked to file a response and commit to building more night shelters, by March 31, 2011," says Indu Prakash Singh, Technical Advisor of the Indo-Global Social Service Society, who initiated the plea for shelter for the homeless in the Supreme Court.
The Maharashtra government, however, didn't commit to creating shelters. As a result, the population of nearly 1.8 lakh homeless people in Mumbai falls prey to a number of diseases. According to Bharadwaj, 45 per cent of the total homeless population falls prey to diseases caused by mosquitoes, while 32 per cent get malaria. Every year, the monsoon and lack of quality health care kills 160-170 homeless people; 65 per cent of the homeless children suffer from severe stomach infections, dysentery, viral fever, skin blisters and other diseases.
The homeless are further troubled by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities. "They come every morning and we have to dismantle our houses and run to railway tracks. At times, they confiscate our belongings or use blades to cut the plastic sheets with which we make our houses," says Chandu, 40, who stays with his family on a pavement in Mahim.
"Despite a Supreme Court directive, Maharashtra has not done anything for the homeless. Unlike in Chennai, Delhi and other cities, Mumbai does not have a single shelter for the homeless," Bharadwaj points out. In its affidavit, the Maharashtra government acknowledged that the homeless are the poorest of the poor and cannot afford informal housing, but it put slum dwellers and beggars in the same category as the homeless.
The government then cited schemes for the benefit of slum dwellers as those also meant for the homeless. "The homeless are very different from slum dwellers. The slum rehabilitation schemes and beggars' homes that the (Maharashtra) government is harping about are not schemes for the homeless," says Singh.
All other states made a commitment to build shelters for homeless people, except Maharashtra, points out Sandeep Chachra, advisor to the Supreme Court on homelessness. The court has extended the deadline for Maharashtra government to respond on the issue till October 31.
Civil society members strongly believe that the state is increasingly resorting to anti-poor policies.
"The biggest hurdle in the country's development is the bureaucracy. The deadline has now been extended but if in the next hearing the government does not give any commitment, we will press for contempt of court charges," adds Singh.
"The government should stop looking at providing houses as charity. The homeless have a right to housing. It is the responsibility of the state to provide safe and secure houses where the homeless can come back at night after work," he adds. While the government is buying time, the activists and the homeless are slowly running out of patience.
Chachra and Nirja Bhatnagar, Maharashtra Region Manager of Action Aid sent a letter to Principal Secretary of Maharashtra, Ratnakar Gaikwad, requesting for an appointment to discuss the issue on June 5, but did not get any response.
The final battle between the activists and the state of Maharashtra is set for October 31, which leaves the city's homeless alone in their fight against the monsoons. "The homeless have been deprived of shelter because they don't have ration cards. But why do they have to beg for a ration card to prove that they belong to this country," wonders Bhatnagar.
2.1 crore
Population of Mumbai
210
Number of night shelters the city should have as per the SC directive
0
Number of night shelters in the city
The SC directive
On May 5, 2010, the SC directed states and union territories to build shelters for the urban homeless. These shelters were to have facilities that enable the homeless to enjoy the right to life with dignity.
