Winter Blues: New Delhi's homeless shiver in bone-chilling cold
The harsh winter has rendered thousands of homeless people in Delhi helpless. Some find refuge in the city’s night shelters but a majority of residents continue to endure severe living conditions
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On Tuesday, Delhi witnessed a second successive cold wave day, recording a minimum temperature of 2.4 degrees Celsius – five degrees below normal for this time of the season, according to Indian Meteorological Department. AP
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Delhi witnessed the coldest day in two years with the temperature plunging to 1.4 degrees Celsius on Monday. On Wednesday, the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung station was 2.4 degrees Celsius, Lodhi Road recorded 2 degrees Celsius, Ridge saw 2.2 degrees Celsius, and Jafarpur was at 2.3 degrees Celsius. AP
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Speaking to ANI, Nihal Hussain, the caretaker of the night shelter Rain Basera on Lodhi Road, said that they have proper arrangements for bed, breakfast, water, and toilets for the needy. “There are a total of eight caretakers, who are deployed in different shifts on a rotation basis,” he said. AP
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Even though many people who would otherwise have to sleep near busy intersections and underpasses find refuge in the city’s night shelters, the majority of residents in the National Capital endure harsh living conditions. Many of the night shelters are overcrowded, lack water and have unclean toilets. AP
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The only choice left for Delhi’s poor, who were rejected from night shelters due to overcrowding, is to huddle around bonfires. Many of them have demanded more night shelters from the government. AP
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“We are facing a lot of trouble, there is no place in Rain Basera night shelters for homeless people in Delhi, we do not have a single blanket, we are left with no food and drink,” Roshan, a homeless man in Delhi’s Kashmere gate area. Roshan added that he is drinking pipe water and sleeps in the filth. AP
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The weather department said that the Delhi-NCR region will need to brace for a further dip in temperatures over the next two or three days. ANI quoted IMD as saying that two Western Disturbances in quick succession are likely to affect northwest India today and on 20 January. AP
