Chennai: Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) rescued 66 homeless people, including 23 children, living on the pavements near Chepauk Stadium and Peters Road, and moved them to shelter homes at Marina Beach.The group includes 18 men and 25 women who were shifted on Friday. Their ages range from 60 years to just two weeks, and one of them a 25-year-old differently abled person. The families were moved along with their belongings before the northeast monsoon sets in.GCC officials said the families had been living near the Chepauk bridge for several years. GCC has built 33 cubicle-like shelters on vacant land near Anna Square. Of them, 26 have been allotted to the families. Each cubicle has a light, a fan, and a cupboard. Separately, washroom and drinking water facilities with RO have been arranged for the people.A GCC official said, “Each cubicle was built to give privacy to the families. We are organizing a health camp on Tuesday. After that, we will take care of their rehabilitation.”Along with them, seven more families from the Narikurava community, 18 people in all, were also shifted to a GCC Narikurava night shelter at Marina.GCC Commissioner G S Sameeran said the rescue would continue. “This will be a continuous activity and an integral part of our rehabilitation programme for the city’s homeless people,” he said.
