24 per cent of homeless people in Chennai fail to opt for night shelters

According to a recent survey held by the Health department of the Chennai Corporation, there were over 40,000 homeless people in the city in 1990, which declined to 27,000 in 2001. Similarly, after a gap of another 10 years, the number of homeless people further declined to 16,000. 

But, in a survey conducted in 2017, the Corporation had identified 3,500 roadside residents in the city. But the survey held this year revealed the presence of 9,087 homeless in the city, a health official said.

Pointing out that Royapuram and Tondiarpet zones have a greater number of roadside dwellers, with 3,211 and 1,238 homeless people respectively, the official said, “Nearly 24 per cent of the roadside dwellers are not opting for night shelters citing distance from their livelihood and fear of confinement. Keeping this in mind, we have decided to build shelters within the 3 km stipulation,” the official added.

We have also taken steps to operate night shelters near the spots where homeless persons are concentrated. “Separate shelters for women and children have also been recommended in the survey,” the official explained.

When the DT Next sought the reasons for the steep rise in the number of roadside dwellers, despite the increasing number of NGO-managed corporation night shelters, another Chennai Corporation source alleged that some of the NGOs shift orphans and senior citizens from their own homes to corporation night shelters instead of finding and accommodating actual road dwellers. 

“Due to this, the homeless population keeps on increasing,” the source said. However, representatives of an NGO debunked the allegations.