BMC forms task force to provide food, shelter to homeless, migrant labourers
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has formed a team of 33 officials to systematically accommodate beggars, homeless and migrant labours who are stranded in different parts of the city due to the lockdown. The civic body has identified 10 locations across the city to accommodate the needy and provide them with food.
These officials who are of deputy collector rank have been entrusted the responsibility of collating details and numbers of people stranded in different parts of the city, ensuring they get shelter and food.
Officers have been appointed as ward-wise nodal officers and the work and the task have been centrally divided into two parts - Mumbai city and Mumbai suburbs. So, total 10 officials have been appointed for Mumbai city and 23 officials for Mumbai suburbs.
Meanwhile, Deputy municipal commissioner’s officials and additional collectors will be monitoring the task on a daily basis.
The BMC has already started distributing food packets to the homeless, pavement dwellers as well as to migrant labourers stuck in Mumbai during the lockdown called since March 24 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The civic body has distributed more than 6,000 food packets on Sunday.
According to BMC’s planning department, there are about 12,000 pavement dwellers / homeless in Mumbai. The civic body then initiated a drive to provide food packets to these people with the help of not-for-profit organisations and donors. The corporation distributed about 2,000 packets to the homeless persons on the first day and gradually increased it to 6,618 on Sunday (two meals). It also distributed food to 725 migrant labourers who can’t leave the city.