Out in the cold: Delhi’s homeless shiver

This winter the mercury dipped as low as two degrees Celsius in Delhi. In chilly weather, the absence of shelter for homeless women is glaring, but the problem is perennial, say shelter rights activists.

Women make up 7-10% of Delhi’s homeless and more than 75% of the 10,000 homeless women in the capital are single mothers yet the only year-round shelter for women in the capital was closed down in June 2007. That land was taken over by the municipal corporation to build a warehouse.

“When the shelter was closed these women were forced out on the streets again leaving them more vulnerable to violence and sexual abuse,” says Paramjeet Kaur of Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an ActionAid initiative that runs seven shelters in Delhi.

The women’s shelter had been opened up in December 2004 in Yamuna Pushta under pressure from civil society groups after Palika women’s shelter, open for just 10 months was shut down.

Leela Devi, a widow from Bhagalpur district of Bihar has been living on Delhi’s streets for 10 years. Her five children stay back in her village. “I manage by rag picking and begging. Sometimes I go back to my village for festivals,” says Leela Devi.

“Rural livelihoods are vanishing and villagers are forced to flock to the city,” says Subrata De of ActionAid’s Delhi team.

Year-round shelters needed

Tents providing temporary shelters, including for women, were set up by the government from 15 Dec – the official date for the onset of winters – though the mercury plunged weeks before that date.

“There are no lasting options for women who live on the streets and are seeking safety at night. They huddle together on railway platforms, around temples and other places of worship,” Kaur adds.

It is not only winters when shelter is needed. All year round homeless people are exposed to great risks on the streets. Heat, cold and rains only add to those. Existing shelters cater to less than 5% of the homeless in the city.

“There is an urgent need to increase shelters for men, women and children in big cities across the country,” says Indu Prakash Singh, who leads ActionAid’s work on shelter and homelessness.

“The New Delhi Municipal Council is one of India’s richest municipal bodies with a large amount of property at its disposal. Many buildings are unused and could be used as shelters with a small investment in running cost.”

“More shelters with specific provisions for women and children would mean fewer rapes and assaults on Delhi’s streets,” adds Singh.

Destroying homes

Slum evictions under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Delhi Master Plan are adding to the numbers of homeless. Preparations for 2010 Commonwealth Games will also involve major displacement.

In 2004, homes of 150, 000 people were bulldozed in Yamuna Pushta – the largest eviction in the capital. In early 2006 over 1500 households were demolished in Delhi’s Mandawali and another 597 households near Bhatti Mines in Balbir Nagar on the outskirts of the city.

“Evicted families are either left on the streets or relocated to sites as far as 40 km from their work. To retain their jobs in the city they join the ranks of Delhi’s homeless,” concludes Singh.

Photo credit: Sarvesh/ActionAid