1400 homeless identified in Bengaluru

A 3-day long survey by the BBMP, Impact India Foundation and the Dream India Network has uncovered and identified over 1,400 homeless people in Bengaluru - just in the area surrounding the City Market and Majestic.

The report by the Times of India, says that the homeless were living around bus stops, railway stations, on footpaths and under flyovers.

TD Sampath of Impact India said that the homeless are mostly migrants who have come from Ballari, Hospet, parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Most of the people are elderly males but the team, comprising 50 volunteers from 37 NGOs, found that there were over 40 families among them as well.

The surveyors said that most of the homeless came to the city looking for work and were into rag-picking. They said that they found some transgenders among the homeless and very few women. The homeless were identified in and around KR Market, Cottonpet, Binny Mill Road, Anand Rao Circle, Magadi Road (south and west zones) and the Majestic bus station and railway station.

Gopinath, a member of the impartial committee constituted on the BBMP's instruction said that the city will need at least 15-30 night shelters to accommodate the identified homeless people. Sampath added that the group expects to find another 700-800 people in the KR Market and Gandhinagar areas, putting the number to over 2000.

The BBMP said that it will focus on the areas where the homeless are concentrated, saying that there is no point in surveying all 198 wards. Once all the homeless are identified in the ongoing survey, it will be expanded to the other areas. D Randeep, special commissioner, welfare, said that he has already written to zonal joint commissioners and the BBMP is actively looking for spaces to rent for putting up night shelters.