New Delhi, January 09: The Supreme Court Monday asked various state governments to take immediate steps to ensure that not one life was lost in the severe and biting cold.
A bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Dipak Misra said that every night shelter should have beddings, potable water, heating system, electricity, emergency medical facilities and separate toilets for men and women.
“You have to ensure that no life is lost in this biting cold,” the court told the state governments.
The court passed its orders in the course of the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties concerning night shelters for urban poor.
“If you can do more, nothing like that, but at least, these facilities have to be provided to protect the human life,” said Justice Bhandari during the course of the hearing.
The court mocked the Uttarakhand government when its counsel told the court that provisions have been made in “dharamshalas (free hospices)” for free stay of the poor people without shelter.
“Dharamshala is not a shelter home. They will not allow the poor to come there. Dharamshalas charge money and they would not allow such people to come there and spoil spiritual feel of the place,” said Justice Misra ridiculing the submission.
Taking to task the Uttrakhand government, the court directed that the district collectors would send a report on the state of night shelters in their respective districts to the chief secretary, who in turn, would file an affidavit informing the court on the state of night shelters in the state on or before Jan 14, 2012.
Earlier, Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, appearing for Delhi government, told the court that there were 64 permanent shelters and 66 temporary shelters in the national capital with a capacity of 12,385 homeless people.
He told the court that on an average, 4,500 people were staying in this night shelters. An apex advisory committee have been formed for the effective functioning and use of the night shelters, he added.
At this, Justice Bhandari said that “if the mandate of apex committee was carried out, then it would go a long way in meeting the needs of the people”.
However, senior counsel Colin Gonsalves disputed Parasaran’s claims on the capacity and occupancy of the night shelters. He told the court that temporary shelters were made of tin sheds and were hardly protecting the poor from the cold.
Gonsalves told the court that occupancy rate at these night shelters was very low and in some cases, it was zero.
Parasaran offered a joint inspection of these night shelters along with the court commissioner and said they would be willing remove any deficiency that may be pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir government told the court that there were no homeless people in the state who could be provided with night shelters.
–Agencies