New Delhi: With the seasonal chill yet to set in, the pavements in the city fill with people, who lay out torn mattresses and blankets and build small fires for warmth. But harsher days lie ahead. Are the night shelters ready to accommodate the thousands who will leave the streets and flock to these winter refuges?
There are 343 night shelters in the capital. While 82 are housed in permanent concrete buildings, 103 employ porta cabins, 140 use tents, eight are in temporary buildings and 10 are special drive shelters. Together they can accommodate 20,264 people. On Dec 5, there were 4,054 people using the shelters during the day and 7,188 at night.
Once the weather turns, the homeless might not really savour staying in the shelters if what TOI found when doing the rounds of the Asaf Ali Road, Sarai Kale Khan, Hanuman Mandir, AIIMS, Motia Khan and Paharganj on Thursday was any indication. For one, on paper, each shelter has at least 10 staff members — three caretakers, three guards, a female caretaker at women's shelters, a sweeper, supervisor and a rescue coordinator. In practice, these roles turned out to be names on a list, with only one caretaker typically present at the shelter.
The women's night shelter at Asaf Ali Road, designated for senior citizens, offered little more than a roof, that too a ramshackle one. Around 7.30pm, 70-year-old Leelavati settled down on the floor. There was no mattress. Instead she made a cushion of a blanket and placed it over a thin plastic bag. "Last year, we had jute mats," she said wistfully. Another woman grumbled, "We have to rely on borewell water. There are no geysers or water purifiers. The bare floors and inadequate bedding are not good for elderly women."
At the men's shelter next door, 200 men had gathered for the night in a space meant for 60, forcing many to sleep on the hard floor. Ramchandra Das, wrapped in a blanket, groaned, "I am 90 years old and am sleeping on the floor. A bed would make such a difference." The caretaker, Vicky Sharma, claimed food and water were available, but admitted. "There are no geysers, no pillows, no cleaning. We're surviving on donations and goodwill."
Even some shelters with a semblance of organisation, like at Sarai Kale Khan, weren't entirely convincing on closer inspection. There were neatly arranged beds, television and an RO water dispenser there. But the toilets were a different story — the inmates preferred to defecate in the open. In the tents near AIIMS, the basic provisions of beds and plastic toilets were undermined by a lack of electricity. On Thursday, there was no water either. "People with disabilities have to rely on an NDMC toilet nearby, which is inaccessible at night," reported an inmate.
But if these shelters appeared uninviting, a visit to the night shelter in Paharganj showed they were havens in comparison. In the seedy building on a narrow, run-down lane near the Motia Khan Chowk, the stairs going up to the first-floor facility was worn, there was a sickening stench in the air and there was trash everywhere. Behind the door was a room with beds and blankets — but all unoccupied. A staffer there claimed the shelter's not-easy-to-find location deterred people from turning in for the night. The truth might be elsewhere — the toilets were revolting and smelly and no one would be able to use them without gagging.
On top of these basic lapses, many of the shelters aren't accessible for persons with disabilities (PwDs). A man in a wheelchair faltered at the regular toilet at the Asaf Ali Road shelter because the one for PwDs was locked due to a blockage. It was futile for him to manoeuvre his wheelchair towards the inaccessible alternative. Reaching the women's shelter on the first floor at Asaf Ali Road would also challenge anyone with mobility issues. A staff member conceded, "It is a tough place for people with disabilities."
Dr Indu Prakash Singh, member, State Level Shelter Monitoring Committee), Delhi, said, "I have closely observed the conditions at the shelters. In one of our affidavits on shelters, we had cited an Aug 2023 report of the Housing and Land Rights Network, which highlighted structural inadequacies, lack of identity documents for residents and food insecurity due to limited access to ration cards. Recommendations included repairing internal toilets, providing free access to community toilets and addressing concerns about police harassment."
Sunil Kumar Aledia, executive director, Centre for Holistic Development, added, "The winter action plan is supposed to start from Nov 15, but it hasn't been implemented yet. The torn blankets show that even the most basic of amenities in shelters haven't been addressed. Govt needs to focus on this. Even today, people can be seen sleeping in the open around Kashmere Gate and other places."
Officials of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), which oversees the night shelter programme, claimed problems are identified and highlighted. They also said that any shortage of any kind was immediately met. But that wasn't what TOI saw at the facilities.