Sans night shelters, cold wave throws homeless' life out of gear

Koraput: At a time when normal life has been adversely hit due to intense cold wave across Odisha, homeless in Jeypore are struggling to survive owing to the absence of night shelters in the town.

The needy and homeless are seen spending nights at bus stands, pavement, footpaths and other places. Moreover, the outstation passengers are seen spending sleepless nights at the bus stand in severe cold conditions due to lack of accommodation facilities.

It is alleged that neither the district administration nor the state government is taking any step in this regard despite being aware of people's woes in the region.

"It's very painful to spend nights at the bus stand. I have never seen any night shelter in Jeypore town. We are deeply saddened due to government's  apathy towards people safety," alleged a passenger, Prakash Parua.

Surprisingly, a bill was earlier passed in a councilors'  meeting at the municipality office for construction of night shelters in the town but work on the same is yet to begin.

Responding to the allegations, executive officer of Jeypore municipality, Sanjay Kumar Acharya said that tender has been floated for the construction of night shelters.

"Tender was floated for the construction of night shelters in the town but nobody responded; so, we have again invited tenders and are expecting positive response this time," said Acharya.