New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has directed the civic and police authorities to guide the capital’s homeless to night shelters in the city in view of the dipping mercury spelling severe cold.
On a visit to a night shelter at the Delhi Gate where 100 people took refuge Monday night, Dikshit distributed 50 blankets and asked authorities to arrange snacks for them when they requested her for some jaggery to beat the cold, an official statement said today.

Dikshit also visited three other shelters, including a children’s home run by the NGO Butterflies.

According to NGO Ashraya Adhikar Abhiyan (AAA), Delhi has approximately 140,000 homeless people and only 25 night shelters. Of these, only two are for women and children.

Of these, 15 are managed by the AAA, which provides accomodation at Rs. 6 a night.

A few temporary shelters have also been set up in view of bone-chilling weather in the capital and the narrowing gap between the days’s minimum and maximum temperatures.