The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has constructed a six-storied shelter with modern facilities for climate refugees.
At the moment the centre has been opened and round one 1,000 people receive services from there everyday. It will formally be inaugurated after the city polls.
The shelter was built in collaboration with Sajeda Foundation, Concern Worldwide and Water Aid.
Dhaka South Mayor Syed Khokon who visited the centre on Tuesday (Jan 28), said that the shelter will aid in training homeless people and help them get off the streets.
“We have taken initiatives to rehabilitate and train them. There is nutritious food supply and education facilities for children,” he said and added that he hoped his successor would carry the work forward.
According to city corporation sources, the shelter has emergency medical facilities for women and children, an old home for senior citizens, training and education centres for homeless women, psychosocial centres, Early Childhood Development programmes, daycare centre and programmes and training for special needs children.
Moreover, there are entertainment facilities, nutritious food and rehabilitation and income-generating training facilities for homeless women available.
Right beside the building is a service centre for disabled people, a public toilet, a breastfeeding centre and community-based help for underprivileged people.
City corporation says that climate change has made thousands homeless and they are moving towards the city. Almost 700,000 of these people are either homeless or living in slums. Among them, 135,000 are living in slums in squalid conditions.
A survey by Bangladesh Urban Health Survey in 2013, says that the number of climate refugees will reach 800,000 by 2028.