Date:02/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/02/stories/2008070261960300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

The open sky is their roof

Chitra V. Ramani

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

A hard night: Many homeless people in Bangalore spend their night at the first available safe nook.

Bangalore: Nightlife in Bangalore is not all about pub hopping, discotheques, and page three parties. It is also about the thousands of homeless people who scour the city to find a spot of ground to rest. They sleep, exhausted after the day’s labour, on footpaths, beside noisy junctions, at the railway station, and in parking lots, amidst the din of traffic around them.

Manickyam, a coolie in the City Market, was walking below the Sirsi Circle flyover looking for a place to rest his weary body around 11 p.m. on Monday night. Around each pillar were people huddled together sleeping. Some had covered themselves with tattered shawls, while others curled up under plastic sheets.

“I come here after work every day. I have nowhere else to go. There are a couple of people whom I know who also sleep here. We take turns and keep vigil throughout the night,” he said.

Manickyam, a native of Salem, has been in the city for the past 30 years. He said he earns around Rs. 100 a day, half of it goes for food. “I save up the remaining and visit my family in Salem once every four-five months. Earlier, the police used to beat us if they caught us sleeping by the road. These days, they do not disturb us, which is a huge relief,” he said.

Chakravathy is a rag picker in Kalasipalyam area. He too, like Manickyam, sleeps under the flyover at night. He said that he sometimes pays Rs. 5 to sleep inside a marriage hall. “But most times, I sleep here. I have been doing this for the past five years. Once every two months, I visit my family in Chidambaram.”

A police constable, who was on night rounds, said that in the City Market area, most of the homeless preferred to sleep near the Jumma Masjid. “Many charitable institutions give out tokens to the homeless every day with which they can buy some food. That is why that area is a little crowded,” he said.

The constable said that though they have been asked to ensure people do not sleep on the road, there is not much that they can do about it. “Where are they supposed to go? We keep an eye on those who are sleeping out. Sometimes, we find a few who are injured and take them to the hospitals as well,” he said.

The scene at the City Railway Station is not very different. Many people sleep outside the railway station and in the parking lot. The railway police said that no one is allowed to sleep on the platforms. “All platforms now have CCTVs, and we are intimated about those sleeping on the platforms. Every hour, we go on rounds and chase people from the platforms,” they said.