Leaking shelters, no place to cook: Rain a pain for Delhi’s homeless

NEW DELHI: The persistent rain in the last few days has brought relief from the sweltering heat. The rain, however, has come with its share of usual problems for the homeless of the city.

Since 2000, nine surveys — including one by the commissioners of the Supreme Court — have put the number of homeless in the city between 52,000 and 2,46,000. Of them, only 22,000 check into shelters each night, with the others finding refuge on road sides and in parks.

For 40-year-old Suddhi Devi, who lives with her family in a Sarai Kale Khan night shelter, the biggest problem was cooking.

“There is no place to make food when it rains. We cook in the open and have to remain hungry if the rain doesn’t stop,” she said.

The shelter is just a porta cabin and a tent, which is vulnerable to seepage and leakage. “We have to stand out in the rain because water seeps inside tent sometimes. Rain is not our friend,” Suddhi said.

Sanitation in the shelters also becomes an issue as muck collects at multiple spots. Lack of permanent structures worsens the problems as brackish water collects and becomes a breeding spot for mosquitoes and insects.

“The construction of a septic tank is going on and stagnant water has collected over here. This has resulted in a lot of mosquitoes,” said Kamlesh, who lives in a Nehru Place night shelter. At an shelter near AIIMS, Radhakant, 28, lives with his wife and five-year-old son, who has cancer. “There is no electricity in the shelter and the lack of a washroom makes life harder during the rains,” he said.

Government officials said they mad no special arrangements at the shelters . “We don’t have anything specific that is done during the rainy season. All the facilities, that are in the action plan, are already provided for in the government-run night shelters,” VK Jain, CEO, Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, said.