Over 5,000 benefit from shelter homes in Lahore

District admin had set up five shelter homes near public transport terminals

LAHORE:  

Over 5,000 passengers and homeless people have benefited from makeshift shelter homes set up by the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the provincial capital.

Lahore Deputy Commissioner Saliha Saeed released the data of shelter homes resident on Monday. It indicated that over 5,000 homeless and passengers have spent their nights in makeshift shelters since November 22.

The district administration had set up five shelter homes near public transport terminals, such as Data Darbar, Thokar Niaz Baig, Badami Bagh Sabzi Mandi, Lari Adda and Lahore Railway Station.

Saeed highlighted that the homes provided shelter for around 230 citizens on weekdays and nearly 300 people on the weekend. Meanwhile, the construction of permanent shelter homes was also in full swing. She underscored that generally, people were happy with the services being offered to them. The DC added the Punjab Social Welfare Department, Civil Defence and Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) had been deployed to ensure a homely environment at these shelter homes.

In order to deal with change in weather conditions, she pointed out that the district administration had also made alternate arrangements. Officials were also visiting these shelter homes to inspect arrangements and quality of food and breakfast being offered to the residents.

The deputy commissioner said that medical staff had also been deployed at to provide checkup facilities to the residents. Doctors will remain available at shelter homes between 6pm and 9pm. The district administration had already issued notification and deployed Dr Khadim Hussain at Thokar Niaz Baig shelter home, Dr Abdul Rehman at Lari Adda, Dr Nadeem Tariq at Badami Bagh Sabzi Mandi, Dr Nadeem Mansha at Data Darbar and Dr Arif Bilal at Lahore Railway Station shelter home. Health CEO had also been directed for monitoring of medical services, she maintained.

The provincial capital is a city of over 11 million individuals, including approximately 200,000 homeless people, who have to spend their nights on footpaths, greenbelts and parks – even in the harshest of weather conditions. Thousands of labourers, who visit the metropolis from adjoining districts to explore employment opportunities, have to spend their nights under open skies if they are unable to finding suitable work.

A labourer from a village near Chishtian, Muhammad Ashiq, said he had been working as a loader in Shahlam Market and Akbari Mandi. "Since the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in the city, work has been reduced. The government has demolished hundreds of shops in Shahalam which has badly affected our jobs too. Sometimes, labourers don't have money to buy food or pay for shared room space. In such circumstances, we were earlier eating from Data Darbar langar and spent the night under flyovers or markets corridors. Now these tents (shelter homes) have made our lives easy in this winter."

Some other homeless people and passengers shared the same ordeal. However, most of them asked the government to help them get employment. They underlined that the government had provided them shelter, but their children also need food.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said people living in "Panahgah" will be provided free of charge treatment facilities.

He was presiding over a meeting on the Panahgah project at his office on Monday.

The chief minister said doctors will inspect ailing people in the evening and medicines will also be provided. Keeping in view the utility of this project, shelter houses will also be established in other districts of the province in collaboration with philanthropists.