Bareilly: The homeless in the city, it seems, prefer to spend the night out in the open braving the winter chill rather than at ‘rain baseras‘ (night shelters). There are eight night shelters in the city with each having a capacity of 150 to 200 beds but less than 20 people take shelter in each home a night. A number of homeless people say that they are hesitant to stay at these shelters as they lack basic facilities.A visit to the shelter homes in the city revealed why the homeless shunned them. It was found that six of the eight shelters did not have c facilities such as proper lighting and water supply. The shelters were in a shambles due to lack of maintenance. Besides, proper security was not in place.A number of homeless people claimed that due to one reason or the other, they felt reluctant to stay at these shelter homes and preferred to spend the nights on the roadsides, bus stands or railway stations.The condition of the shelter home at old roadways near Novelty was one of the worst. A tented accommodation, it did not have a solid roof nor was the tent waterproof. An inmate of the shelter home complained that they were drenched when it rained last week as the water started pouring through the roof.The night shelters at Prem Nagar and Ayub Khan did not have basic facilities like water and electricity. The makeshift toilets were in a mess. Kanhai Lal, a labourer who has been staying at the shelter home for many years, said, “Lack of water supply and security are the major problems here. For more than two years, the shelter home has lacked adequate water supply. One has to go to the main road and collect water in buckets from a hand pump by the roadside. Despite several complaints, the authorities have taken no action.“The window-panes and doors have broken down and it gets very cold inside during the night. To solve the problem, we have been using plastic sheets to cover the broken doors and windows to escape from cold and mosquitoes. As the doors are weak and broken, there is no sense of security and often we are forced to spend sleepless nights,” complained Rajkumari, another inmate at the shelter home.At the night shelter in Hajiapur in the Old City which can house around 150 to 200 people, there were only 20 to 30 people. “Inconvenient approach to the night shelter could be one reasons for lack of homeless people here. Due to its unkept state, people do not want to spend nights here. It has been over six years since this shelter home was constructed but few turn up,” said Shaqil Husain, caretaker at the shelter.When TOI contacted, Ghayur Ahmed, executive engineer, BMC, he denied the allegations levelled by the homeless. He said, “These allegations are irrelevant and we have provided all the shelter homes with required amenities. However, if there are still some problems with the night shelters, it will be sorted out.”

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