CHENNAI: A dedicated monsoon action plan is needed to protect people experiencing homelessness in Chennai during heavy rain and other extreme weather with measures in place to ensure access to shelters, healthcare and essential services, a city-based NGO working with deprived urban communities said.
The Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) said homeless persons and locations where they are concentrated should be mapped ahead of the monsoon to enable timely assistance. It called for round-the-clock access to safe shelters, with specific provisions for women, children, senior citizens and persons with disabilities. Shelters should also provide food, drinking water, sanitation facilities and essential medicines, it said.
Outreach teams should be deployed to identify and assist people who may not approach shelters on their own. However, such interventions should be carried out with dignity and consent, without resorting to forced relocation, IRCDUC said.
The organisation also stressed on the need for an emergency health response, including mobile medical teams to reach vulnerable people living on the streets. It sought coordination among shelter services, health and disaster management departments, police and civil society organisations.
A senior corporation official said, “For homeless persons, we have nearly 60 Shelters across the city with a capacity of nearly 6,000 people.”