125 shelter homes for poor under construction in Mumbai: BMC

The Mumbai civic body has said construction of 125 shelter homes for the homeless in the city is underway, and 20 such structures will be made available in the next couple of months.

Responding to an RTI query filed by activist Anil Galgali, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said it was following a Supreme Court order to construct one shelter for every one lakh people in the metropolis.

The RTI reply stated the civic body plans to construct 148 such shelters across Mumbai.

Of these, construction of 125 shelter homes is underway, and 20 of them will be made available in the next couple of months, the BMC said in its reply.

Asked why the civic body had failed to come up with the required number of shelters, a senior civic official, requesting anonymity, attributed it to "space crunch".

He said, "The city is already space starved, even for those who have money in their pockets. Providing shelters for the poor is a challenging job for us. The BMC, however, has stepped up its efforts to provide shelter homes."