270 shelter homes aid homeless fight bone-chilling cold
New Delhi: "It's bone-chilling cold this year," said a quivering 75-year-old Baadhiya, sitting with her husband inside a shelter home at the Sarai Kale Khan area. For the homeless in Delhi, the last four to five days have been a battle with freezing temperatures as Delhi saw its coldest December in more than a decade. Meanwhile, over 270 shelter homes, with a total capacity to accommodate at least 20,000 people, have come to their rescue.
"I am hearing from several people that this year's winter has broken all the records. Yes, they are right. The icy winds are making us shiver," said Raju, who was sitting with his wife Rinki at the premises of the shelter home. He is a rickshaw puller but because of the cold, people are avoiding his rickshaw which is affecting his income. "The passenger complains that they feel cold while traveling on the rickshaw. They prefer autorickshaw as it is more covered. Over the last four to five days my earnings have gone down drastically," he said.
Unna and his wife Baadhiya are beggars who live in the shelter home in South-East Delhi. Baadhiya, while showing her frozen hand, the elderly woman said: "I leave the shelter home in the wee hours of the morning and go to different colonies for begging. But due to the cold, people do not open their doors in the morning. I am earning less." Like Baadhiya, another woman Raghu Raja (75), a native of Allahabad, also narrated the same tale.
On the other hand, Roshanara was cooking for her children in the shelter home. She works as a maid. "In the morning, while cleaning utensils my hands are frozen but I can't do anything. I have to feed my family," she said with a smile while her three children sitting next to her shook their head in agreement, and continued munching on their afternoon meal.
The Delhi government's shelter homes have come to the rescue of hundreds of homeless people in the city. Rajesh Ranjan, one of the caretakers of the Sarai Kale Khan shelter home said that around 8 pm the shelter home is packed. "Last year, around 10 pm, the shelter home used to get filled but this year due to the persistent cold people are coming indoors early," he said. There was also a recovery centre in the shelter home, where more than 20 injured people were sleeping. The Delhi Government's Mohalla Clinic is also there to provide the basic medical facilities for the homeless. "For the poor homeless people, Mohalla Clinics are nothing short of a boon. It combats diseases and avoids fatalities in the winter season," said Ranjan.
An official from the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, Bipin Rai told Millennium Post that a team of doctors visit every shelter home two times a week for regular checkups of the homeless people. "We have increased 20 tents in four areas of Sarai Kale Khan, AIIMS, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib and Kashmere Gate area," added Rai. They have also deployed 17 rescue teams which have shifted 4,097 homeless to the nearest shelter Homes from November 15 to December 29, this year.
