New Delhi, Jan 21 (PTI) The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has set up around 800 beds for patients and their family members outside major government hospitals, following the directions of the Delhi High Court amid the prevailing winter conditions.
On January 14, the high court directed DUSIB to ensure adequate night shelter facilities for people awaiting treatment outside hospitals, particularly AIIMS, RML Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Safdarjung Trauma Centre and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, to meet exigencies during the cold weather.
A senior DUSIB official told PTI that around 400 beds have been installed outside AIIMS, while 200 beds each have been set up outside RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College. He said the board is also identifying additional locations to create more such facilities.
DUSIB initially faced constraints due to the limited availability of land, after which AIIMS provided space for the construction of night shelters. In addition, around 350 temporary shelters have been set up across Delhi for homeless people, he added.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia was hearing a suo motu petition initiated after the court took cognisance of a news report highlighting the “pitiable condition” of patients and their attendants staying on the streets while awaiting treatment outside AIIMS.
The court was informed that, as a long-term measure, a 3,000-bedded Vishram Sadan has been proposed on a two-acre plot in Ansari Nagar West with the support of an Ahmedabad-based NGO.
Under its Winter Action Plan, DUSIB usually erects around 250 pagoda tents every year and currently operates 197 shelter homes across the city, including 82 permanent buildings and 115 porta cabins.
These shelters provide basic amenities such as mattresses, blankets, pillows, drinking water, toilets, electricity, bathing facilities where available, lockers for belongings and hot water during peak winter.
Caretakers are deployed round-the-clock in three shifts, and lodgers are allotted beds and blankets subject to availability. Facilities such as drinking water, toilets, lockers, television and first-aid kits are provided free of cost, according to DUSIB.
A report submitted by the principal district judge (South) said blankets were distributed to homeless persons at night and tents were set up wherever space permitted. PTI SHB SHB APL APL
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