Night Shelters to Railway Stations: People Search For Respite as Winter Surges in Delhi

New Delhi: As the cold wave grips the national capital, some people are forced to take refuge in night shelters in search of food, shelter and some warmth to help them sustain through the chilling night.

The India Meteorological Department has issued a cold wave warning in certain parts of north India, including Jammy and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and more states.

Multiple areas in Delhi recorded the minimum temperature to be 5 degrees Celsius on December 15 and 16, according to the IMD. The department has also forecasted certain areas to be engulfed in fog for the next three days.

Meanwhile, certain people get their respite from the cold from various night shelters around the capital.

Vicky Kanojia, caretaker at one of the shelters near AIIMS Delhi, highlighted how certain people who are in need of recovering from illness and injury and do not have a support system are sent to the shelter.

"This is a night and recovery shelter, so like anyone who is destitute, on the road or admitted in the hospital; who doesn't have anyone to take care of them, they are sent here for recovery. Here we have an ambulance for people, we give them their medicines, food. In the morning they get tea, while in the afternoon and evening, they get their food. They get a bed for them, and blankets," Kanojia said.

Sabho, who has been staying in one of the night shelters for many years praised how they get food, water, blankets etc every night for the cold. She stays in the shelter along with her two kids.

"I have been here for the last 8 years, I stay with my family here, with my two kids. Here I get to stay, get food, a blanket and I also get the facility to bath and go to the bathroom too," Sabho told ANI.

Rishi Kumar Mehta, caretaker of another shelter in Sarai Kale Khan highlighted the facilities which are available for the people, “They get a bed, blanket, water, every day they get chai, biscuits, food, everything. Everyone has their own personal bed, they have a covering too.”

When asked about medical facilities, he said that there is a nearby mohalla clinic, and if the situation is a little more serious then the person is taken by an ambulance to AIIMS.

Certain people who are unable to secure shelter for themselves get their respite from trying to find a spot on a railway platform, while some try to get warmth from fires being kept alive through the night.

Mukesh, who stays near the Old Delhi railway station talked about how he has trouble sleeping at night without any proper warmth.
 

"There is a lot of cold, I work all day, and in night we make a fire and warm our hands. I don't get proper sleep at night, just make a fire and get through the night," he told ANI.

Another person near the railway station, Pradeep talked about how difficult it is for him to get through the cold night.
 

"We are surviving and going through somehow, I stay on the tracks. I am just going through and trying to warm my hands. I only have here to stay and work. There is no arrangement to sleep. The work isn't as good as it used to be, but we still keep going," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed.)