The shelters for the homeless in Calcutta have only about 200 vacancies, while a 2018 survey found 7,000 homeless people living on the city’s pavements or under flyovers.
Another 360 beds are likely to be added by the end of the year. But even then, a yawning gap would remain between the number of beds needed and those available to give shelter to the homeless.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Tuesday conducted drives to relocate “vagabonds” and footpath dwellers in four locations across the city. It was the first time in many years that simultaneous drives were held in so many places to relocate the homeless.
A KMC official said 168 people were relocated from the pavements on Tuesday. Only one of them, a woman living on a pavement at Mullick Bazar, agreed to move to a shelter near Chingrighata. Others left the footpath for other places when the civic body’s team, assisted by police, arrived.
The four stretches where Tuesday’s drives were held were Gariahat to Ballygunge Phari, Hazra to Gopalnagar, Mullick Bazar to Beckbagan and the Park Circus seven-point crossing to Beckbagan.
The KMC has planned to continue such drives regularly, at intervals of a few days, at least for the next few weeks.
All previous attempts to shift the homeless to the shelters have failed. The civic body’s officials feel repeated attempts will drive home the point that the authorities will not allow the people to live on the footpaths.
“It is only then that they will agree to shift to a shelter for the homeless,” said a KMC official.
“There are about 990 beds in the shelters, and 790 of them are occupied. We still have space for 200 more people. These have been lying vacant for several months,” said another KMC official.
The Telegraph spoke to some of the footpath dwellers on Tuesday. Some said they did not have a home, while others said they had homes away from Calcutta, but they were not big enough to house a large family.
At least one man said he had to live in Calcutta with his wife because their three children go to a free English-medium school in Chetla. The couple drives a van and picks discarded bottles to make a living.
Many said they did not have permanent jobs and were often called upon to broom a shop or clean a garage or a car. A woman said she worked as a help at homes.
Footpath dwellers in Ballygunge Phari, who collect discarded plastic and paper, had earlier told this newspaper that they would not move to a shelter far from where they were living as it would take away their only source of income.
Inmates in the shelters get a bed, blankets and at least two meals. They are also given storage space.
“We encourage the inmates to go out and work during the day. Those who have work can come back at night to stay. They can also stay during the day if they want,” said the official.
An official said attempts to set up more shelters failed in the past. The KMC approached some state government departments for their unused land, but the requests were turned down.
The civic body conducted occasional drives earlier, but there were no sustained drives over weeks or months.
An official, however, said that if the KMC succeeded in shifting the homeless in the ongoing drives, they would start scouting for land again. “The councillors have found small plots in their wards where we have set up health centres. If we ask, they will find plots where shelters with small capacity can be set up.”
