As part of an action plan drawn up by the state government to accommodate stranded homeless and migrant workers, schools and wedding halls in Mumbai are being converted into temporary shelters.
The lockdown has left thousands of migrant workers from Bengal Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states stranded and helpless in Mumbai which has the maximum number of COVID-19 cases in India. In such a scenario, the estimated two lakh homeless population is not accommodated properly could lead to speedy transmission of the disease.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday had asked Bruhanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the state food and civil supplies department to supply cooked food or ration to the homeless.
Senior bureaucrat Bhushan Gagrani, who is overseeing efforts in control room set up for COVID-19 containment operations, confirmed the move to house the homeless in temporary shelters. “We will take care of their food and water requirements, and other basic needs,” he said.
The CM had directed the Mumbai (City) Collector and the Mumbai (Suburban) Collector to locate safe spaces or temporary shelters to self-isolate the homeless population on March 27. The officials chose all the available empty civic schools as they have water supply, rooms, and can easily be taken over by the government. Along with schools, unused marriage halls are also considered as possible solutions.
According to The Indian Express report, the government has invoked emergency provisions under the Epidemic Act, 1857, to acquire these.
The collectors were also given the responsibility of mapping the homeless population in consultation with BMC, and community outfits working for the welfare of the homeless.
The beneficiaries are identified by evening and a few of them were shifted to the shelters in a few cases. According to Mumbai (City) Collector Rajeev Niwatkar, his office had so far acquired nine schools across nine Assembly segments and identified 3,200 migrant labourers.
Mumbai is home to a large number of migrant daily wage earners, many of whom have suffered a loss of wages and have seen no work since March 21, when the government had first ordered shuttering down of all non-essential services in Maharashtra.
The chief ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Bihar had earlier contacted Uddhav to enquire about welfare measures that could be taken up for migrants from their respective states. “We can’t let them travel to their states due to restrictions. It was decided to secure their food, water, and accommodation requirements till they are lifted,” a senior bureaucrat was quoted as saying.
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