It’s all a ‘homely affair’ at MTC shelters

Commuters say that they are forced to stand on the road risking our lives as the shelters are ‘encroached’. Members from civic body say that though it was a long-pending issue, officials concerned have not realised the seriousness of the situation and address it. 

Sources said, the Greater Chennai Corporation had set up around 37 shelters for the homeless. But, the number of such facilities were grossly inadequate when compared with the number of homeless. 

As a result, such homeless have started occupying the MTC bus shelters and pavements. Further, while individuals encroach pavements and pedestrian pathways, many families have converted bus shelter into ‘houses’. 

“I am not against these homeless, who live in the bus shelters. But, it is the officials’ duty to take corrective measures to move them to provide proper place of stay. Whenever I come during any time of the day to this bus shelter, I see at least a couple of persons sleeping on the seats,” said K Shanmugam, a private firm employee and who boards bus to his destination regularly at Egmore. 

“So, I wait in a corner of the shelter or on the road till my bus comes. But, the problem becomes bigger when senior and sick commuters comes to the shelter. They are left to stand in the scorching sun or risk their lives during the night,” he said. 

“The officials have told us to vacate the bus shelter. But, they did not provide proper place for our stay. So, we have no option but to live under these shelters,” said a woman, who was found cooking behind one bus shelter located along the Walltax road. We have been residing at this shelter for the last three decades,” she added. 

Vanessa Peter, a policy researcher of Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban community, who made study on these people, told DTNext that around 11,000 homeless people are living in open places in the city. 

“Areas like Egmore, Koyambedu, Walltax Road, Kodambakkam and T Nagar are the common places where these people reside. While some families are residing in such bus shelters for several decades, a few others move from one shelter to another,” she pointed out. There should be a comprehensive policy for rehabilitating these people by the government, Vanessa stressed. 

When contacted, K S Kandasamy, Deputy Commissioner, GCC, said that all the zones under the GCC limit have shelters. “However, these people are refusing to move into those facilities. We will soon identify such people and move them to the corporation-run homes,” he stressed.