CHENNAI: The corporation-run shelter for homeless women at Kannapar Thidal, built using DAY-NULM fund of Rs 72.4 lakh, is now being repurposed as a printing press by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). This action has shed serious doubts on the corporation’s commitment to rehabilitate the destitute.
Sources said the inmates were shifted to the Kannappar Thidal shelter from a facility in Shenoy Nagar over two years ago. The shelter was managed by Surabi Trust, an NGO that has been working in coordination with the GCC to oversee such shelters since 2013.
Around 35 to 40 women resided in this facility. However, in early 2024, Surabi withdrew from the management responsibility, leaving the facility non-operational. Around 15 inmates present during its closure were shifted to various other women’s shelters in the city.
Now it has come to light that instead of identifying another qualified NGO to resume operations, the GCC decided to repurpose the shelter into a printing press. When TNIE visited the area, the building was found undergoing alterations to accommodate printing machines.
Ezhumalai A (57), a vendor near the Kannapar Thidal shelter, said, “Some homeless people had recently come and enquired about the facility. But, since it has downed shutters, they left.”
A zonal-level corporation official said the decision to repurpose the shelter was taken because a similar facility was available within a 500-metre radius.
However, when TNIE visited the nearby shelter on Stringers Street, it was found that this shelter was exclusively for the elderly, unlike the one at Kannapar Thidal, which also accommodated women aged 50 and below.
The GCC, once credited for increasing shelters from just three in 2012 to 54 by 2021 through NGO partnerships, now seems to be reversing its progress, with the number currently reduced to 49.
Earlier in 2024, two buildings funded under the DAY-NULM scheme --one in Sholinganallur and another in Elango Nagar, located in the Tondiarpet zone -- were converted and now, they function as a munsif-cum-judicial magistrate court and a primary health centre, respectively.
Sources said the reason for at least seven shelters in the city remaining non-operational, are NGO terminations, withdrawals, or the repurposing of buildings.
A corporation official told TNIE, “As the GCC press building on Wall Tax Road is currently under renovation, the press has been temporarily relocated to this shelter. Once the renovation is complete, the press will be moved back.” However, the official did not disclose an expected time frame.
The official added that while the shelters in the city can accommodate a total of 2,450 people, they currently house only 1,300, and that there is no demand for additional shelters. However, a recent report by the IRCDUC, an NGO, found that Chennai is home to a whopping 8,331 homeless individuals.
Vanessa Peter, the founder of IRCDUC, stated, “While many people continue to reside in homeless situations, especially women, children, elderly and others, the buildings constructed for shelters are being used for other purposes.
Repurposing these shelters built using DAY-NULM funds must stop as people continue to live on the streets. GCC must make efforts to strengthen the shelter programmes in the city by prioritising and adopting a comprehensive approach.”