Rs 60 Lakhs ‘MCC Bayalu Rangamandira’ at Kadri in City Now Looks Like a ‘Nirashrithara Mandira’?

The Rs 60 Lakhs Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Bayalu Rangamandira at Mallikatta-Kadri Ground in City Now Looks like a ‘Nirashrithara Mandira’ ?(Homeless People Mandira)

Mangaluru: On 12 September 2017, an Open Air theatre (Bayalu Rangamandira) constructed by the Mangaluru City Corporation, which was built at a cost of Rs 60 lakhs, was inaugurated at Mallikatta/Kadri grounds by then DK District in-charge Minister B Ramanatha Rai. Since then, only a few programmes have been held on this stage, including a couple of entertainment programmes put up by the Kadri Cricketers Club, during Mosarukudike, and other Kadri Temple feasts. Other than that, this Bayalu Rangamandira remains in a “Sleep Mode’?

On cold rainy nights, when Magalureans retire for the day in the warmth of their homes, a small but growing number of people seek refuge in bus stations, in front of shops and on pavements. Most of them are migrants who have left home, hearth and poor agricultural conditions to find a better income in this growing Coastal city. Almost all of them end up being categorised as unskilled labour. And for many such homeless, destitute, and stranded migrants, MCC Bayalu Rangamandira has also become a Home Away From Home?

The open ground (Bayalu) is used for buses and other vehicles parking, also used for learning car driving or two-wheeler riding, illegal activities like drinking and smoking etc- and since the stage is also wide open, after sunset a bunch of homeless, destitute among others spend their night there. You can also see people consuming alcohol and smoking, leaving behind a mess of cigarette butts and empty liquor bottles. Team Mangalorean also noticed this morning, a homeless urinating at the corner of the stage. There is also garbage scattered all over the area. So, is this how a Rangamandira built on tax-payers money should look-like, is a question to be asked to the MCC Commissioner, MCC Mayor and the area ward corporator.

How can these officials turn a blind eye to such a pathetic issue- these homeless people have no food or water, and couple of them are ill, and struggling to survive- and could face the same situation like a homeless who dies few days ago, of hunger ( https://www.mangalorean.com/hunger-kills-middle-aged-homeless-man-found-dead-in-auto-rickshaw-park-in-city-due-to-hunger/). Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Krishnappa, a homeless from Karkala, having no place to spend the nights, making this Stage his home said, “I came to Mangaluru to see a dentist due to severe toothache, and also there is infection on my feet. Due to lockdown and other restrictions, I was not able to take care of these health problems. There has been no help from the government nor any officials care about us. This is the only option to survive until help comes”.

Yet another man who spends day and night on this stage, said that he was a cleaner for private tourist buses, and since no buses are operating, he has been out of job since March, and at present, does odd jobs if he is lucky to get them- and many a times, he said that he goes to sleep empty stomach, and this has been going for weeks. ” I have literally begged with local authorities to help me, but all my requests have been ignored, and this is where I have to spend my days, and many times with no food. God is only my help”.
Several homeless still lie on the streets and under sheds in abandoned or under construction showrooms, seeking shelter from the COVID-19 sans any help they say from the district or the government. The homeless, mostly migrants, have nowhere to go and are even running out of supplies. Money is less, demands are more, income has been shut. Many of these poor have been residing in the open since months, among whom are daily wage earners, whose income is not enough to support themselves. While people of administration, police and health department they claim have been by, teaching them to cover their mouths and maintain a distance of at least two-three meters between themselves, nobody has offered them any food yet.

If you look around the City, hundreds are homeless, and with no money and no documents to help them access relief measures related to food, health, water, sanitation, shelter and livelihood, the homeless have become the most vulnerable to the immediate impact and aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis. Even after the lockdown, they may not have a livelihood, and their lives much worse during monsoon. The water crisis is acute for the homeless and given the poor quality of food they consume, they are vulnerable to disease also. With hospitals overburdened with Covid-19, the issue of accessibility is likely to be worse now. Then there is the question of access to food.

Why are the homeless ignored by all sections of the government and local administration? Is it because of their invisibility. Seems like Covid-19 has exacerbated the vulnerabilities of the urban homeless communities and there has been no specific intervention for the urban homeless because of their invisibility. Why can’t the authorities provide some kind of strategies which can help the homeless deal with the crisis being created by the pandemic and the lockdown? And not simply ignore and allow them to suffer. There are chances, many of these homeless with Covid-19 symptoms are quarantined on the streets. They should be shifted to government quarantine centres and equipped with facilities,before they spread the virus to other people.

Without any further delay, the government and district administration needs to provide more for the needy. No doubt, the government and authorities of various departments are facing challenges to protect the poor, but they can’t simply ignore them and allow them to die. The Govt and authorities need to urgently adopt measures to protect the poorest and most vulnerable people if COVID-19 containment and relief measures prove inadequate. The lockdown has already disproportionately hurt marginalized communities due to loss of livelihood and lack of food, shelter, health, and other basic needs. The government does have a responsibility to protect the health and well-being of the population, but some of these steps have left many stranded, and homeless. The homeless people are in need of protection.

Team Mangalorean makes a humble request to the concerned authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure that everyone has access to food and medical care, and that the poor and marginalized are not mistreated or stigmatized. The government’s responsibility to protect its people from the outbreak should not come at the cost of human rights violations. If the government has crores of taxpayers money to construct a statue of Kempegowda in Bengaluru, and our local MLA Vedavyas Kamath has gone ahead in fencing the Nethravati bridge in order to stop people committing suicides by jumping off the bridge, then they should also take care of these homeless, destitute, etc. And this article is for the kind consideration of district-in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, MLA Vedavyas Kamath, MCC Commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde, and Kadri ward corporator Manohar Shetty, to take quick action in providing food and shelter for these homeless, and in the same time, protect this Rangamandira from getting misused. Thank You, in advance on behalf of the City’s taxpayers!