New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday
directed MCD to provide within 48 hours the basic amenities,
including water supply and toilet, in some of the shelter
homes meant for the homeless people in the city.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and
Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed the Urban Shelter Improvement
Board of MCD to also provide 10 mobile toilets within a week
besides directing the concerned ministry of NCT government to
form a team of officials and take steps to construct permanent
toilets in various shelter homes within two months.
The court also directed the police to make an inquiry
into reportedly delivery of a child by a woman in a Pusa Road
park despite the court's earlier directions to set up homes
for destitute pregnant women's care.
Seeking the city government's concerned authority to
take appropriate steps to control recurrence of such incidents
here, the bench asked the police to file its probe report by
the next date of hearing.
The court order came after the petitioner's lawyer
argued that it became difficult for the homeless to stay in
shelter homes as the civic agency has failed to provide
basic amenities.
The Bench was hearing a PIL after taking suo motu
cognisance on the basis of media reports about the demolition
of a Pusa Road night shelter in December last and the charge
that the city government and the civic bodies were doing
nothing to protect the homeless from biting cold in January
last year.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011, 21:30