Shahida, 20, and her nine-month-old daughter Jannat are among more than 300,000 homeless people in Delhi enduring extreme heat, with daytime temperatures reaching 43°C and minimums around 32.4°C. The family of ten sleeps on the pavement under a flyover, where they have little access to food, water, or healthcare.
Chandni Singh, a lead author with the IPCC, notes that homeless people are particularly vulnerable to climate extremes due to unreliable access to essentials. Last summer, at least 192 homeless people died in Delhi over nine days during a heatwave, according to the Centre for Holistic Development.
Shahida dreads summer, especially now that she has a baby. “I’m not even sure how her skin will bear this weather,” she says. Her partner left after Jannat’s birth, and she moved back with her family under the flyover. Their previous shanty was demolished by authorities, and repeated rebuilding attempts have failed.
The flyover offers some shade, but the trapped heat becomes suffocating by noon. The family wakes to traffic noise and relies on a community tap for water, which often gets too hot to drink. They buy bottled water at 20 rupees a litre only when extremely thirsty. Shahida breastfeeds Jannat as much as possible, but the heat reduces her milk supply and makes it painful.
“This is how we sleep,” Shahida says. “Even the smallest sound wakes us up.” She tries to protect her daughter from illness, but fears the heat’s impact on her child’s body.
