India’s merciless heat torments New Delhi’s homeless: ‘sun burns down on us like fire’

“The sun burns down on us like fire, making the streets unbearable. Our only shelter is a mosquito net, which offers little relief from insects but not from the heat,” said Naseema, 30, who lives with her husband on the streets near Jangpura in Delhi.

Desperate to protect her one-year-old son through the night, Naseema clutches a cardboard fan, relentlessly trying to keep him cool. “He wakes up constantly from the heat, and I can’t sleep for fear of the big rats … I’m terrified of the rats, afraid they might bite my son.”

With daily temperatures this month soaring past 47 degrees, Delhi’s homeless aren’t expected to get much sleep.

Independent estimates suggest between 200,000 and 250,000 people are without shelter in Indian capital, including women, children, and marginalised groups.

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board manages 195 shelters with a combined capacity of just 16,675 beds, falling far short of the estimated homeless population.

Despite the urgent need for shelter, the board’s demolition of eight shelter homes in March last year left numerous people without a place to live. Critics say the crisis is compounded by ongoing evictions and forced demolitions of slums and homes.

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Afzal Khan, a homeless father of a six-year-old child, witnessed his shanty home being razed by the government in 2014. Repeated evictions from makeshift refuges on footpaths have worsened their plight.

“My wife and child depend on me, but I can barely cover our expenses, where should I take them to find respite from this relentless heat?” Khan said. “The government’s inaction has abandoned us, leaving us vulnerable and without a place to live.”

Delhi