Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cloudy November evening was slowly taking the city into its cold embrace. A man in torn clothes was standing outside a Rain Basera near ISBT bus stand. He had no roof over his head and was shivering in cold. He asked the official in Rain Basera for the shelter, but the official refused. Those who take shelter in Rain Baseras, set up to shelter the roofless and the poor, are generally drug addicts and drunkards.
As a result the officials managing these Rain Baseras are facing problems. Chandraprakash Pandey, an official at Rain Basera near ISBT said, a significant number of alcohol or drug addicts from footpaths seek shelter here, though we rarely permit their stay due to the disturbances they cause. On occasions when we do allow them, they often create problems for others. We observe higher numbers of students and migrant workers seeking refuge compared to those living on the footpaths, he added.
Athar Khan, an official of the oldest Rain Basera situated near Sultaniya Janana Hospital told Free Press that they actively engage in night-time outreach efforts, asking individuals from footpaths to come and seek shelters at their Rain Basera. Despite having 150-200 beds with separate accommodations for men and women, our daily influx surpasses 200 people seeking shelter. As a result, we often run out of beds and are compelled to place additional beds on the floor, he added.
