A day after KMC’s anti-vagrant drive, homeless people return to Park Circus and Gariahat
Times of India | 12 June 2025
1234 Kolkata: A day after KMC's drive on Tuesday to shift homeless people from pavements to its shelter homes, the vagrant families returned to their "spots" at Park Circus and Gariahat, complete with their belongings, on Wednesday. They refused to move to the civic shelters, saying their "freedom might be lost".KMC has earmarked two shelters—one at Kalighat for people from Gariahat and Hazra and the other at Beleghata for those living on Park Circus roads and under flyover.As the civic body and police launched the campaign in Park Circus-Beckbagan area on Tuesday, most homeless people had fled. In less than 24 hours, 10 were back under the AJC Bose Road flank of Maa flyover near Park Circus 7-Point Crossing. "We own land in Diamond Harbour. We live in Kolkata for a living. I work as domestic help here and my husband works for a catering group. We have voter ID cards and cast votes. Why should cops swoop down on us?" said a woman living there. About their reluctance to move to the shelter, she said, "If we go there, we will lose our freedom and privacy. Also here, we find odd jobs, which would not be possible at shelters." Cops have been told to keep a vigil. "We will relaunch the drive. We have also approached NGOs that can convince the homeless about the advantage of living at shelters," said a KMC official.At Gariahat, the drive had to be called off on Tuesday, given the resistance. On Wednesday, 150-200 vagrant people were back at their spots, stacking up their belongings. Pinky Halder, a ragpicker living under the Gariahat flyover, said, "We earn by collecting paper and plastic from the market. Our livelihood will be affected if we leave. If the authorities arrange work and food for us, we will go." Abhijit Sadhu from Gariahat said, "These people must be rehabilitated but this placed should be freed up, too."(inputs by Biplab Bhattacharjee & Debobrata Shome)