NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the decision of the city government to close down the Haj Manzil shelter near Turkman Gate for the homeless. The petition sought immediate relief for the homeless living in the shelter.
According to the petition, the temporary shelter home currently houses 70-80 people, most of whom are senior citizens abandoned by their families. "There is already a shortage of homeless shelters in Delhi and these people will be forced to go out on roads if no other arrangement is made for them," read the petition.
The petition was filed by Sunil Kumar Aledia, Executive Director at Center for Holistic Development (CHD) through his Advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra. "CEO of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), Bipin Rai said that the Haj Manzil shelter home is a temporary shelter home. It was primarily constructed to provide accommodation to people from other states planning to visit Hajj. He said that the residents will be relocated to another shelter home at the earliest," the petition added.
The move comes after the government asked around 80 homeless people from the night shelter home to vacate the place by May 1. On Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) also asked the government to submit a report on the matter in two weeks and issued a notice to Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar.
"The commission has received complaints from one Vicky, a resident of the shelter, alleging that DUSIB is contemplating to close their shelter home, and the homeless living there have no place to stay. It has also been alleged that the state government in the recent past has closed nine shelter homes and the state authorities are not taking any action," read the notice.