Hyderabad: Lockdown 2.0 once again leaves homeless in the lurch

Hyderabad: Lockdown hearing this word everyone gets afraid as people face many difficulties due to closure of all business establishments. Among the worst affected are poor, underprivileged people and homeless, who live on footpaths and are fully dependent on donated food and seeking money.

Following a surge in the Covid cases once again, lockdown 2.0 has been imposed in the State. On the day one many homeless people were seen suffering for food as Annapurna canteens, which launched a Rs-5-a-meal scheme during the lockdown proved a boon for the poor and underprivileged, remained shut in several parts of the City since the shutdown was imposed from 10 am.

It was observed the poor and beggars were unable to get drinking water with all shops, hotels, worship places and water ATMs set up by the government did not function. The homeless were left dry in hot weather on City roads.

In the previous year, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), under the Annapurna Food Scheme, served more than five crore meals, but in lockdown 2.0 the food centers were seen closed at Narayanguda, Koti, King Koti, Lakdi-ka-pul, Mehdipatnam, Basheerbagh and several other locations.

According to GHMC officials, there are about 140 food centers in the City alone, one for each division, serving simple vegetarian meals near busy locations, where the turnout of daily wage workers, poor and the needy is high. These centers have been also set up near government hospitals such as Niloufer, Hyderabad District Hospital, Osmania and Gandhi so that patients' attendants can have affordable meals.

The centre at the Hyderabad District Hospital, King Koti, and near Koti bus-stand was found shut on day one of lockdown, as was the one at Narayanguda.

"The least the State government can do is to keep running these food centres and make the water ATMs operational so we can have water in this hot weather, " said a homeless person near the Nampally railway station.

"There are several homeless persons, beggars and the needy resting near bus stands, Nampally and Secunderabad railway stations' footpaths.They need food. In this second wave of the Covid-19, followed by lockdown 2.0, even NGOs and volunteers are afraid to take up any food distribution drive," said Mohammed Minhaj, a social activist, and food campaigner.

Harish Kumar Daga, a social activist, demanded the government to once again plan for providing food for the homeless and distributing dry ration kits to all affected families. He said he would contribute towards 1,000 kits immediately. Daga pointed out that in the previous lockdown, the government delivered more than 30,000 dry ration kits to all affected families at their doorstep.

"With lockdown in place, several families lost their means of livelihood and are unable to arrange one meal a day. Hundreds are living on footpaths. Under the Annapurna scheme the government must provide food twice in a day," Daga added.

However, a GHMC official claimed that Annapurna centres were open from 12 to 1 pm in the northern part of the City. But in reality, during the same time in central and southern parts, not even a single centre was kept open.

Meanwhile, the Principal Secretary of MA&UD Arvind Kumar on Wednesday evening directed the GHMC officials to arrange additional 102 Annapurna centres for providing meal during lunch time. He said these centres will be fully operational from May 14.