NEW DELHI: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has informed the Delhi High Court that all pagoda shelter sites within and around its campus were fully occupied by patients and their attendants during night hours.
In an affidavit placed before the court, AIIMS detailed a range of measures undertaken in coordination with the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), NDMC, MCD, PWD, and other agencies to address shelter, transportation, safety, hygiene, food support, and on-ground monitoring during the winter season.
The affidavit stated that AIIMS arranged a total of 750 beds within and around its campus to accommodate patients and attendants, all of which were fully occupied.
Hospital security personnel, working in coordination with the Delhi Police, proactively shifted patients and attendants found waiting on footpaths to designated pagoda shelters to ensure orderly relocation, enhanced safety, and protection from harsh weather conditions.
AIIMS further informed the court that free-of-cost e-shuttle services were provided to facilitate safe internal movement of patients and attendants across the campus. On security, the affidavit said that arrangements were strengthened at key pagoda shelter sites, with round-the-clock deployment of AIIMS security personnel. Joint supervision and crowd regulation exercises were being carried out with the Delhi Police, particularly during late evening and night hours.
The hospital also told the court that two meals per day, along with morning tea, were being provided at all shelter sites. Drinking water arrangements were ensured by NDMC and AIIMS, while washroom facilities were being maintained by the concerned agencies. Hygiene conditions at all sites were being regularly monitored, and directions had been issued for further improvement through intensified sanitation efforts.
The affidavit also flagged encroachments by tobacco sellers and other unauthorised vendors near several pagoda shelter sites. These were identified during on-ground monitoring and reported through official channels for appropriate action by the authorities concerned.
Meanwhile, taking note of the larger issue of shelter preparedness, the Delhi HC on Tuesday directed the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board to prepare a short-term plan for the summer months, in addition to its winter preparedness measures, for night shelter homes across the city.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia ordered that such short-term plans be prepared every year during January and February to meet exigencies arising from heatwave conditions. The plans, the court said, should be implemented during May and June and, if required, extended to July and August as well.
As an immediate measure, the court also directed the concerned authorities to provide wheelchairs in all night shelter homes. The bench was hearing a matter related to hardships faced by residents of night shelters, a matter in which it had recently taken suo motu cognisance. “Once a plan is prepared, the same shall be discussed in a meeting headed by the Principal District Judge, Saket. After finalisation, it shall be implemented, and the duration of implementation shall depend on the intensity of the heat or cold wave,” the court observed.