Homeless people scramble for survival
Most of the people habitually complaining of the harsh weather or loadshedding schedule are comfortably resting on their memory foam mattresses in their air-conditioned rooms at night. However, for the homeless people spending their nights desperately seeking shelter while escaping police crackdowns, sleep takes over before they can even think about complaining.
During the tenure of the previous elected government, Panah Gah or night shelter homes were established to help homeless people sleep safely at night. However, over the last three years, the Punjab government has shut down these facilities, as a result of which homeless people sleeping on roads and sidewalks are exposed to harsh weather conditions during the winter and summer months. In just Lahore alone, nearly 1,700 homeless people have lost their lives over the past three years.
A homeless couple, Inam and Asiya, who now sleep near Lal Pul along the canal, shared their experience. 'A few years ago, we used to go to a shelter near the railway station at night where we'd get a bed and food. Then we'd go back to work the next morning. But for the last three years, the shelters have been shut. We've made a temporary place near Lal Pul. Sometimes the police hassle us, and we change our spot for a day or two. Although we can manage during the day, nights are our biggest enemy,' shared the couple.
Edhi Foundation spokesperson Muhammad Younis Bhatti confirmed that the death rate among those sleeping on footpaths during the winter and summer months has significantly increased over the past three years, mainly due to the lack of shelters. 'Previously, shelters provided 8 to 10 hours of rest daily, but their closure has complicated the situation. In the summer, the footpaths are searing, while in winter, the frost intensifies the cold. Hence a spike in death occurs during these three to five months,' noted Bhatti.
Read More: At least 12 killed, six injured in Lahore as rain lashes city
According to sources of the Express Tribune, the highest number of unidentified deaths are reported from areas including Data Darbar, Bhati Gate, Tibbi City, Qila Gujar Singh, Muslim Town, Kahna, Shahdara, Kot Lakhpat, Lari Adda, Mozang, and Garden Town. While more than 170 permanent and temporary shelter homes were built across Punjab, including 13 in Lahore, there is now only one functional shelter home each in Multan, D.G. Khan, Taunsa Sharif, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, and Sargodha, and just six remain operational in Lahore.
Director Social Welfare, Muzammil Yaar, revealed that more than 50 per cent of the shelter homes were initially built in collaboration with philanthropists, but over time, most of them were closed. 'Even some of the shelters originally run by the Social Welfare Department have been shut down. A shelter home has a staff of over 10 people and caters to over a 100 people daily. The government has not allocated a significant budget to expand the shelter network. As a result, in Lahore and across Punjab, the closure of shelters over the past three years has directly contributed to the rising death toll among homeless individuals, especially those exposed to harsh weather or struggling with drug addiction,' conceded Yaar.
'A significant percentage of deaths reported among the homeless occur due to drug abuse, which is worsened by extreme weather. Many of these individuals become addicted simply to kill time, and in the past three years, drug abuse among them has increased by over 40 per cent,' claimed Syed Zulfiqar Hussain, a drug rehabilitation consultant.
In the meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Punjab government claimed that although in the past, temporary arrangements were made for sheltering homeless people, the current government was working on a permanent solution to the problem.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Express Tribune
Encroachments heighten threat of urban flooding
While climate change can be considered the obvious reason behind extreme weather patterns, the scale of damage reported across multiple major cities across Punjab in the aftermath of the recent monsoon rains appears to have its roots in something much more sinister. According to reports received by the Express Tribune, over 829 illegal encroachments have been recorded on rivers, streams, and other natural water passages across the province, obstructing the flow of water. Multan Zone had the highest number of encroachments, 676, while Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions recorded 153 encroachments. These encroachments have intensified the risk of urban flooding in low-lying areas. Under the Irrigation, Drainage and River Act 2023, interfering with natural waterways or undertaking unauthorized construction is a punishable offense. However, enforcement on the ground remains weak. Experts are of the opinion that residential and commercial construction near rivers has significantly reduced floodplains, impeding the natural flow of water. Over 114 people have lost their lives while hundreds of others have been injured due to heavy monsoon rains and floods hitting Punjab over the past one month. Affected districts include Chakwal, Rawalpindi and Mandi Bahauddin, where critical infrastructure has also suffered major damage. Urban planning expert Sani Zahra stated that the primary reason behind flooding in major cities was their outdated and insufficient sewerage system. 'For example, in Lahore, more than 40 per cent of drainage lines are either blocked or inadequate for the growing population while several drains have also been overtaken by illegal construction, causing rainwater to accumulate on the streets and roads,' noted Zahra. Conversely, Dr Zulfiqar Ali, an environmentalist, noted that due to climate change, monsoons had become more intense. 'Rising temperatures increase atmospheric moisture, leading to more frequent cloudbursts and heavy rains. Additionally, more than 7,000 glaciers in the north are rapidly melting, causing flash floods and surges in streams and rivers. Rampant deforestation and unplanned construction in hilly areas have further intensified flooding. Over the last two decades, Punjab has lost 30 per cent of its forest cover, resulting in soil erosion and increased river silt, which narrows the waterways, exacerbating flooding,' explained Dr Ali. Between 2020 and 2025, more than 400 people lost their lives in Punjab due to rain and flood-related incidents, with financial losses estimated to exceed Rs75 billion. The most devastating year was 2022, when 15 districts were affected, 223 deaths were reported, and damages surpassed Rs200 billion. Many believe that 2025 is proving to be yet another disastrous year after 2022, with extreme weather patterns worsened by human negligence. Hence experts advocate the need for both short and long-term measures to address the climate crisis, including the removal of encroachments from water channels, installation of modern drainage systems, reforestation, and climate-resilient disaster management plans. Meanwhile, the Punjab government has initiated work on integrated sewerage and flood drainage systems in 189 cities, with an allocation of Rs500 billion. Syed Zahid Aziz, Head of the Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company, claimed that 13 rainwater storage ponds were being built in Lahore to raise groundwater levels. 'Additionally, separate pipelines for sewerage and rainwater are being laid, with the new systems in Lahore capable of handling up to 200mm of rainfall,' informed Aziz.
Express Tribune
20-07-2025
- Express Tribune
New budget ignores woes of poor patients
The Sindh government has once again claimed improvements in healthcare, asserting increased health sector allocations while paradoxically achieving little in terms of improving patients' access to affordable healthcare. Sindh's public hospitals, facing increasing patient pressure, had submitted a formal written request to the Sindh government for a substantial increase in grants in the annual budget. However, the government rejected this request and instead allocated only an 8 per cent increase in grants for public hospitals. In contrast, a significant amount was allocated for NGOs working in the health sector, including public-private partnerships (PPP's) which were promised 50 per cent more funds. According to sources of the Express Tribune, for the 2025-26 budget, the Sindh government has allocated Rs326.5 billion for the healthcare sector, which is a steady rise from the previous year's budget of Rs302.2 billion. The budget for the People's Primary Healthcare Initiative has been increased from Rs12 billion to 16.5 billion, while the Gambat Institute's budget has been increased by Rs3 billion to 10 billion. In essence, instead of improving the state of government hospitals, the Sindh government has allocated a total of Rs146.9 billion for over 60 NGOs operating under public-private partnerships, an increase from Rs90 billion. Experts believe that this amount could have been used to provide health insurance to patients across Sindh, who remain deprived of adequate healthcare facilities. This is particularly imperative in a province where existing health facilities have seen no improvement in terms of bed capacity, despite annual budget increases. At the Sindh Government Children's Hospital near Nagan Chowrangi, which operates under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Sabir, the father of 8-year-old Zohaib, shared his concerns. "The hospital staff and administration act as if the facility is privately owned. They often show a lack of attention toward patients and display a disrespectful attitude towards their attendants. It is a common issue at PPP hospitals that essential medicines are frequently unavailable, and emergency services are often not provided during night hours. The attitude of doctors and staff is generally indifferent," said Sabir. Senior photographer at a daily, Jalal Qureshi, shared his recent experience of taking his granddaughter to the emergency department of NICVD's children's unit, where the guard and staff behaved extremely rudely with his son-in-law. "When I attempted to report the incident to the hospital director, I learned that the emergency department had been handed over to an NGO under the PPP model. The NGO staff gave the impression that the facility was a private hospital, with guards and staff appointed at the NGO's discretion," said Qureshi. "No new hospital has been established in Karachi in the past decade, while the bed capacity of existing hospitals has not been increased either. Even in hospitals like Civil, Jinnah, and Lyari, the number of beds remains the same as it was before. Despite the Sindh government increasing the budget for these hospitals every year, no measures have been taken to increase the number of beds. There is no accountability in this regard. Under public-private partnerships, the Sindh government has handed over buildings of public hospitals to various NGOs, which use electricity, water, and manpower free of cost. Although the Sindh government allocates significant funds to these NGOs in the annual budget, patients do not benefit from it," claimed Dr Nighat Khan, Chairperson of the Women Care Foundation. Former Caretaker Health Minister of Sindh, Dr Saad Khalid Niaz opined that the same funds could have been used to offer health insurance to the people. "Despite the Sindh government's annual claims of improving the healthcare sector, poor patients still face difficulties in accessing treatment. The number of government hospitals in the metropolitan city is insufficient for a population of over 20 million," said Dr Niaz.
Express Tribune
16-07-2025
- Express Tribune
Homeless people scramble for survival
Listen to article Most of the people habitually complaining of the harsh weather or loadshedding schedule are comfortably resting on their memory foam mattresses in their air-conditioned rooms at night. However, for the homeless people spending their nights desperately seeking shelter while escaping police crackdowns, sleep takes over before they can even think about complaining. During the tenure of the previous elected government, Panah Gah or night shelter homes were established to help homeless people sleep safely at night. However, over the last three years, the Punjab government has shut down these facilities, as a result of which homeless people sleeping on roads and sidewalks are exposed to harsh weather conditions during the winter and summer months. In just Lahore alone, nearly 1,700 homeless people have lost their lives over the past three years. A homeless couple, Inam and Asiya, who now sleep near Lal Pul along the canal, shared their experience. 'A few years ago, we used to go to a shelter near the railway station at night where we'd get a bed and food. Then we'd go back to work the next morning. But for the last three years, the shelters have been shut. We've made a temporary place near Lal Pul. Sometimes the police hassle us, and we change our spot for a day or two. Although we can manage during the day, nights are our biggest enemy,' shared the couple. Edhi Foundation spokesperson Muhammad Younis Bhatti confirmed that the death rate among those sleeping on footpaths during the winter and summer months has significantly increased over the past three years, mainly due to the lack of shelters. 'Previously, shelters provided 8 to 10 hours of rest daily, but their closure has complicated the situation. In the summer, the footpaths are searing, while in winter, the frost intensifies the cold. Hence a spike in death occurs during these three to five months,' noted Bhatti. Read More: At least 12 killed, six injured in Lahore as rain lashes city According to sources of the Express Tribune, the highest number of unidentified deaths are reported from areas including Data Darbar, Bhati Gate, Tibbi City, Qila Gujar Singh, Muslim Town, Kahna, Shahdara, Kot Lakhpat, Lari Adda, Mozang, and Garden Town. While more than 170 permanent and temporary shelter homes were built across Punjab, including 13 in Lahore, there is now only one functional shelter home each in Multan, D.G. Khan, Taunsa Sharif, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, and Sargodha, and just six remain operational in Lahore. Director Social Welfare, Muzammil Yaar, revealed that more than 50 per cent of the shelter homes were initially built in collaboration with philanthropists, but over time, most of them were closed. 'Even some of the shelters originally run by the Social Welfare Department have been shut down. A shelter home has a staff of over 10 people and caters to over a 100 people daily. The government has not allocated a significant budget to expand the shelter network. As a result, in Lahore and across Punjab, the closure of shelters over the past three years has directly contributed to the rising death toll among homeless individuals, especially those exposed to harsh weather or struggling with drug addiction,' conceded Yaar. 'A significant percentage of deaths reported among the homeless occur due to drug abuse, which is worsened by extreme weather. Many of these individuals become addicted simply to kill time, and in the past three years, drug abuse among them has increased by over 40 per cent,' claimed Syed Zulfiqar Hussain, a drug rehabilitation consultant. In the meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Punjab government claimed that although in the past, temporary arrangements were made for sheltering homeless people, the current government was working on a permanent solution to the problem.
