Delhi not to restore demolished night shelters
December 19th, 2011 - 9:28 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Dec 19 (IANS) The Delhi government Monday told the Delhi High Court that it will not restore the night shelters which had been constructed near the railway tracks and under the flyovers but demolished later due to security concerns.
While defending its step to shut down these night shelters, the Delhi government said that people were not turning up there.
“Mobilisation of people is very low, people are not going there (night shelter),” said counsel appearing for the state government.
However, rejecting the argument, the bench said that the poor and the needy were not showing up at these night shelters because of lack of proper infrastructure. “There is no proper infrastructure, that’s why people are not going in the night shelters,” the court said.
Observing that NGOs have to don the responsibility of disseminating awareness about the night shelters, the bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said: “Such social organisations should try to bring in more needy people to the shelters.”
During the hearing, the petitioner, an NGO, blamed the Delhi government and the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for demolition of night shelters without any prior information.
The NGO, that runs few night shelters, has alleged that the government have stopped funding them, forcing them to shut down the facilities.
On the other hand, the government Monday submitted that it has already asked for land from Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for construction of new night shelters. It also informed the court that within a week, seven new shelters will be opened for children.
The city government also informed the court that 64 permanent and 54 temporary (portable cabin) shelters are already functioning in the city.
Irked over the closure of 84 temporary night shelters in the national capital against its orders, the Delhi High Court had on Dec 13 directed the city government to reopen them immediately.
The court also pulled up the Delhi government for shutting down the night shelters, citing low occupancy.
The court had taken a suo motu cognizance on the basis of media reports about the demolition of a night shelter in December 2010 and the civic bodies doing nothing to protect the homeless from the biting cold.
Meanwhile, the court has sought the status report of the night shelters functioning by Wednesday.
- Restart night shelters immediately: High court to Delhi government - Dec 13, 2011
- Court puts off decision on temporary night shelters - Jul 20, 2011
- Supreme Court restrains Delhi Govt. from demolishing night shelters - Dec 15, 2010
- Court ticks off MCD for demolishing night shelter (Lead) - Jan 06, 2010
- Court pulls up MCD for demolishing night shelter - Jan 06, 2010
- NGOs asked to make night shelters popular - Jan 10, 2012
- Give permanent shelter to homeless near Jama Masjid: Court - Mar 09, 2011
- Delhi shelter homes to be all-weather ones - May 20, 2012
- Ensure not one life is lost in cold, apex court tells states - Jan 09, 2012
- Replace tent classrooms with portable cabins: Court (Lead) - Jan 25, 2012
- Court orders basic facilities at shelter within 48 hours - Feb 02, 2011
- Court to MCD: Give shelter to people of demolished night centre - Jan 07, 2010
- Ensure night shelter for Delhi's homeless, court tells MCD - Jan 13, 2010
- Don't beautify at cost of poor, court tells Delhi - Jan 19, 2010
- Delhi's homeless prefer streets to night shelters - Jan 11, 2011
Tags: bench, chief justice, city government, delhi development authority, delhi development authority dda, delhi government, delhi high court, demolition, flyovers, mobilisation, New Delhi, ngo, petitioner, proper infrastructure, railway, rajiv, sahai, security concerns, social organisations, state government