Shelters And Solace For The Homeless In Delhi's Winter Chill

New Delhi: At 14.4 degrees Celsius, Delhi recorded the season's lowest day temperature on Wednesday. Winter arrived late this time but now that it is here, it is likely to stay longer, the Met Department has predicted, making life difficult for those who live out in the open.

Shelter is a matter of survival during Delhi's extreme cold. According to the Centre for Holistic Development, an NGO, five bodies of homeless people were found on January 19 from Connaught place, CR Park, Civil Lines, Kashmiri Gate and Chandni Chowk areas. The next day, two more were recovered from Yamuna Bazaar and Yamuna Pushta neighbourhood.

Winter can be unimaginably harsh for those out in the open.

Offering respite in the heart of central Delhi, Micro Home Solutions (MHS) has been providing affordable, semi-permanent structures to people living on pavements and under flyovers with the help of crowd-funding.

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Swati Janu, senior designer tells NDTV, "These structures are easy to erect and we also train the homeless to dismantle and reassemble them as they often have to move from one place to the other." The agency has distributed tents to 125 families, each of which can accommodate at least four people. These tents are made with easily available materials that include bamboo, welded reinforcing-bars and a thick canvas. The makeshift shelters have a net that prevents homeless people from disease-borne mosquitoes.

60- year- old Murtaza Bibi has been living along the sidewalks of a temple for 16 years. But, for the first time feels at peace while leaving for work. She says, "My things used to get stolen. Now I've a roof that is my space and I am relieved to find my things when I get back."

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Though the government has built winter shelters, many do not want to go to these citing overcrowding, theft and violence as reasons. Another resident at Nizamuddin, Savitri feels living in the temporary shelter is easy because she can take it down during the day and put it back up after sunsets. The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted cold wave conditions over the next week throughout Northern India attributing to the north-westerly winds.