Homeless under the harsh sun

During winter, at least officials make the rounds of night shelters. But in summer nobody bothers to visit these homes. We are left to rot in the heat without even adequate drinking water facility,” says 45-year-old Mohit Kumar, who stays at a porta cabin on Lodhi Road.

It’s an open secret that officials seldom come out in the scorching sun to take stock of the state of affairs at shelters for the homeless during the summer months.

In contrast to the preparations made in winter, authorities leave the destitute to brave the heat wave in the day and find some relief when the mercury dips a few notches at night. For them it’s nothing personal, it’s just seasonal.

Entering a porta cabin feels like stepping into an oven. Some of these temporary shelters have no electricity, and many don’t have enough fans in working condition. This makes it unbearable to spend time inside them during the daytime.  As with the more permanent shelters, clogged toilets and erratic water supply often add to the hardship.

Deccan Herald visited over 20 shelter homes recently at Neela Gumbad, Nizamuddin Railway Station, Taimur Nagar in Okhla, Kashmere Gate, Vasant Vihar, R K Puram, Sarai Kale Khan and Yamuna Bank.  Many of them are plagued by problems which make summers unbearable.

Like the one near Sarai Kale Khan bus stop. “We don’t have electricity at our shelter home. No provisions have been made here to supply water for toilet purposes,” says Ranjan Kumar, who stays there.

Lack of proper medical assistance for the homeless is also a concern. Occupants at this shelter complain that a doctor last visited in March. 

“There are a lot of people who require medical attention but doctors do not visit the night shelter regularly,” he adds.

Toilets are often in a fithy state. On visit to a shelter home in Neela Gumbad area, Deccan Herald found that one of the toilets was locked. It was the same story at shelter homes in Yamuna Bank area.

More often than not, shelters homes across the city receive irregular water supply – these include the ones which the Lieutenant Governor’s office had inspected last year, resulting in suspension of six Delhi Jal Board official.

Sporadic water supply, holes in water tanks and water theft leave this disadvantaged section high and dry in the heat.

Sarai Kale Khan shelter occupants have been having a hard time due to water theft.

“The water is being used up by nearby eateries. Tea stalls owners depend on our water supply for doing business. They finish off water in the tank and we are left with no water for our daily chores,” says Tabassum.

“Even if you complain to the authorities, nothing changes here,” she adds.The water at another shelter home in the vicinity is too hot as there is no shade above the storage tank.

“We don’t get water supply every day. We get water once in three days or so. There is always scarcity of water at our shelter,” says Tarun, who stays at a shelter home in Yamuna Bank. When Deccan Herald visited there was very little water in the tank.

At some shelters where water is supplied daily, the occupants use the same water for drinking as well as for the toilet. At a night shelter in Vasant Vihar, Manoj  says, “At least we get water every day.”

NGOs working for the homeless say Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), a government body responsible for looking after shelter homes across the city, ignores the problems the homeless face in summer. They blame the Delhi Jal Board for not ensuring adequate water supply.

But DUSIB contends that water is being supplied regularly to all the 272 shelter homes. “We have been working hard to make sure that water is being supplied daily to each shelter home in the city,” says Kamal Malhotra, Director (Night Shelters) with DUSIB.

While the NGOs and DUSIB quibble over the preparedness, there is no denying the fact that the DUSIB has been slack in coming up with a summer action plan to tackle the problems. 

“We usually announce the summer action plan by May first week. This time we got delayed a bit,” says a DUSIB official, requesting anonymity.

Asked about what’s new in this year’s summer action plan, he adds, “It’s the same as the last year’s.” Such lackadaisical attitude of the city government has forced the homeless to fade into oblivion.

More deaths

Stating that the highest number of homeless deaths takes place during summer, NGOs have also questioned the huge hue and cry created only around the deaths reported during winter.

Over a decade, the number of unidentified bodies found in the month of June add up to 3,434, according to the figures compiled by an NGO – Centre for Holistic Development.  Compare this to 2,431 bodies found in December during the same period.

“Nearly 80 per cent of the unidentified bodies are of the homeless,” says Sunil Kumar Aledia, founder of Centre.

Activists working for the cause also oppose the government’s policy of charging user fee for staying at shelter home.“In winter, the homeless are not charged anything for blankets, tea and bread for breakfast. But they are asked to pay Rs 10 per day to spend a night at a shelter home in summer,” says Indu Prakash Singh, convenor of National Forum for Housing Rights.

“The policy is such that the destitute are forced to spend the night in the open in summer. Shelter homes neither have an adequate number of fans nor drinking water facility, then what are the authorities charging for?” he says.

It will be a huge respite for the homeless if the authorities can equip shelter homes with enough fans in working order, let alone coolers which the DUSIB claims have been provided to the night shelters during summer.

Way out

First, the authorities must try to get accurate figures on homeless population. According to a survey in 2014, DUSIB estimated the homeless population to be around 16,760. NGOs have opposed the findings and term it as a “rapid survey”.

While the 2011 census showed that there 46,724 destitute people in the city, 2010 survey financed by UNDP found 55,955 homeless people. 

NGOs claim that at present there are over 1.5 lakh homeless people in Delhi.They say adequate housing and sustainable livelihood for homeless should be included as a top priority in the overall urban development plans of the state governments. 

“A state needs to stop criminalising the homeless and provide them a place where they can legally and safely go to sleep and meet their basic needs,” says Singh.

All cities, smart or not, should have a plan for shelters or transit homes and affordable housing for the poor who are also the rightful residents there.

“There is a need to review and amend laws that disproportionately impact people experiencing homelessness, such as prevention of begging, police brutality, violence against homeless women and children, to ensure that their fundamental human rights are protected,” adds Singh.

“The government should declare a moratorium on all forms of forced evictions and homelessness should be made a key aspect of its comprehensive housing plan.” 

*Some names have been changed