Homeless shiver as winter dawns over megacity

Where the advent of winters in the port city paints a picture of bonfire nights and cosy wedding parties, for certain segments it also means bracing for winds that cut like shards of glass, on the unsheltered streets of the raging metropolis.

Parts of Karachi, like Kharadar, Lee Market, Eid Gah, Saddar, Tin Hatti, Liaqatabad, Nazimabad, SITE and Orangi Town are home to thousands of homeless people, who have little option but to shiver under open skies come December.

Saleem Chacha, a 62-year old man, is one such individual who works as a carpenter during the day and camps close to Bakra Pedi area in Liaquatabad after dark. “I make Rs300 to Rs400 a day, out of which a majority goes to food expenses. After that, I have no money left to pay for accommodation, so I sleep on the footpath,” said the elderly man. “A kind man gave me an old bed and a blanket and that’s been my greatest asset during the winters,” he added.

Similarly, speaking of her plight, Zubaida, a homeless woman from FC Area, said that her children removed her from their house sometime ago, and she’s since been living under the canopy of a mosque. “My teeth clatter during the night but I try to close my eyes and somehow fall asleep, so I at least stop shivering. I have no one to look out for me, but sometimes a kind person leaves out a mattress or a quilt, and those are my lucky days,” she told.

In the absence of government shelters, people like Saleem Chacha, who cannot afford housing, are forced to live on the streets come hail or thunder. “We request the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister of Sindh to consider establishing permanent shelters for us homeless people and labourers,” expressed another man, who spends his nights under open skies.

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Speaking in the regard, social leader Hassan Rahim also said that there are innumerable people in Karachi who do not have accommodation and it is very difficult for them to stay overnight in winter. “Welfare organisations try to donate warm clothes and blankets, but there are too many people on the streets and our resources are limited. So the government needs to step up and build permanent shelters for the homeless in Karachi,” he urged.

When probed about the matter, Pakistan Tehreek E Insaf Sindh Assembly member Jamal Siddiqui said that the federal government is expanding the scope of temporary shelters in Karachi under the Ehsas programme. This year also on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, we will join hands with welfare organisations to distribute warm clothes and bedding and blankets to the homeless,” he informed.

Similarly, Sindh Minister for Social Welfare Sajid Jokhio als said that the Sindh government has set up temporary shelters in three districts of Karachi. “Government of Sindh has been trying to set up shelter homes for the homeless in Karachi on a permanent basis, to provide accommodation to the working class and other homeless people,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2021.