Towards development of night shelters and other amenities

Martin21 · Newbie Joined: Dec 17, 2011 Posts: 2

For the urban homeless, whose number has been increasing fast, particularly in the metropolitan centers and large cities like Cochin, night shelters and public conveniences like toilets and bathrooms, should be liberally provided in different parts of the city as per the requirements of each prominent locality. The government and the city administration must provide land for accommodation, finances for creation of essential services to the non-governmental agencies, voluntary institutions, the philanthropic and religious institutions and other similar non-profit and socially oriented bodes to build and man night shelters and other public convenience facilities.

In Mumbai, the Sheriff initiated some good work in this area recently. In recent times scores of voluntary agencies have come to the fore to provide recreation facilities to people in need of such amenities for shorter periods. However, such a trend is yet to pick up in the prominent cities of Kerala. Very few voluntary agencies have come forward to provide such facilities in spite of a floating population of more than one lakh people that is entering into and moving out of a teeming city like Cochin on a daily basis.

Several reasons are being cited for such a situation. In Cochin Real Estate values have appreciated like never before. Thus people are looking out for opportunities to maximize the returns on investment, that to give up their prime properties for creating public amenities. Even owners of vast tracts of land in the urban centers are either renting out their premises at high rentals or scouting for partnerships to develop their properties and sell it at higher costs.

The state governments efforts to develop recreation amenities for the streaming population into Cochin has come as a cropper. Most of the amenities created in earlier times have either shut down or are in a state of disuse. Greater public-private partnership is likely to effect major changes in the short run.

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