Corporation shelters 932 homeless people in 5 months

“After completing a survey on the number of roadside dwellers in the city in May, we started the rescue drive in the city in July,” a Corporation official said.

According to the data released by the Corporation, as many as 332 of the rescued were sent to homeless shelters for men and 358 were sent to shelters for women. “We have also rescued 19 girls and 25 boys from streets and sent them to the respective shelters.

32 elderly persons are accommodated in the shelters for elderly persons,” the official added.

32 persons were sent to the common home for both genders.

Of the 932 persons, 83 are mentally challenged, including 12 mentally challenged boys. The civic body also rescued 30 persons with disability.

As many as 28 transgender persons were rescued and provided shelters in the Chennai Corporation shelter for transgenders. Including 932 persons, the homeless shelters of Chennai Corporation now provide shelter to a total of 1,706 persons.

“Presently, the civic body is running as many as 50 shelters for the homeless in the city with the help of NGOs.

Among the 50, 13 are special shelters that are functioning inside hospitals to provide shelter for relatives of the patients and 37 shelters are for homeless persons. We have taken steps to increase the number of shelters,” the official said.

The rescue drive by the Corporation found speed after the survey revealed that the metropolis had a homeless population of 9,087. The survey further revealed that there are 3,764 homeless men, 2,962 women and 2,361 children apart from mentallychallenged persons and persons with disabilities.

When asked about the remaining persons still staying on roads, the official said that the civic body is planning to conduct rescue drive once in 15 days in coordination with NGOs. 

“Once the persons are rescued, they will be given skill training that will help them lead their life outside. Many persons who were not able to survive outside, are staying in the shelters for many years and we take care of them” the official added.