Lahore:
Most of the people who usually complain about the harsh weather or load plan rest comfortably on their memory foam mattresses in their air -conditioned rooms at night. However, for the homeless people who spend their nights desperately seeking shelter while escaping police crashes, sleep takes over before they can even think of complaining.
During the previous chosen government, Panah Gah or Night Shelter Homes was set up to help homeless people sleep safely at night. Over the past three years, however, the Punjab government has closed these facilities, as a result of which homeless people sleep on roads and sidewalks are exposed to harsh weather conditions during the winter and summer months. In just Lahore alone, nearly 1,700 homeless people have lost their lives in the last three years.
A homeless couple, Inam and Asiya, who now sleeps near Lal Pul along the canal, shared their experience. “A couple of years ago we went to a shelter near the railway station at night where we would get a bed and food. Then we would go back to work the next morning. But for the past three years, shelters have been closed. We have made a temporary place near Lal Pul.
Edhi Foundation spokesman Muhammad Younis Bhatti confirmed that the death rate among those who slept on trails during the winter and summer months has increased significantly over the past three years, mainly due to the lack of shelters. “Previously, shelters delivered 8 to 10 hours of rest daily, but their closure has complicated the situation. In the summer, the paths are burning while the frost intensifies the cold. Therefore, a tip occurs in death during these three to five months,” Bhatti noted.
According to sources of Express Pakinomist, the highest number of unidentified deaths from areas including data Darbar, Bhati Gate, Tibbi City, Qila Gujar Singh, Muslim Town, Kahna, Shahdara, Kot Lakhpat, Lari Adda, Mozang and Garden Town. While more than 170 permanent and temporary shelter was built across Punjab, including 13 in Lahore, there is now only one functional shelter each in Multan, DG Khan, Taunsa Sharif, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur and Sargodha and only six are in operation in Lahore.
Director Social Welfare, Muzammil Yaar, revealed that more than 50 percent of house houses were originally built in collaboration with philanthropists, but over time most of them were closed. “Even some of the shelters originally driven by the social welfare department have been shut down. A shelter has a staff of over 10 people and caters to over 100 people daily. The government has not awarded a significant budget to expand the shelter network.
As a result, in Lahore and across Punjab, the closure of shelters over the past three years has directly contributed to the rising death toll among homeless individuals, especially those who are exposed to severe weather or are struggling with drug abuse, “admitted Yaar.
“A significant percentage of deaths reported among the homeless occurs due to drug abuse, which is worsened by extreme weather. Many of these individuals become dependent on just killing time, and in the last three years drug abuse among them has increased by over 40 percent,” claimed Syed Zulfiqar Hussain, a drug rehabilitation consultant.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Punjab government claimed that even though temporary events were booked in the past, the current government worked on a permanent solution to the problem.
