Background

As per a Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure among homeless individuals, with specific emphasis on children, it was recorded that a total of 63% of street children were found to be clinically “malnourished” and “undernourished”, of the 50,923 children assessed under this study in 2024. The Delhi government presently operates the Shelter for Urban Homeless, yet its ability to accept a significant portion of the approximately 300,000 homeless individuals residing in Delhi has been significantly hampered due to infrastructural constraints, resulting in the heightening of insecurity for multiple homeless communities. 

Climate insecurity is rampant in India, with New Delhi’s geographical position making its environment a hostile landscape during peak summer months. The capital city witnesses average temperatures between 38 and 45 degrees each year, with the summer disproportionately affecting insecure individuals from marginalised and low socio-economic backgrounds, with specific emphasis on homeless communities. Exposure to such extreme heat, with existing malnourishment and insecurity within homeless populations, results in heightening of despair and an increase in vulnerability and propensity to heatstroke, loss of consciousness, fever and other ailments, while death is a realistic possibility for homeless individuals exposed to the harsh summer months in Delhi. 

Targeted and holistically co-created interventions are necessary to combat existing conditions of extreme poverty, homelessness, malnourishment and overall quality of life for homeless communities across the country, with specific reference to climate-insecure homeless individuals and communities in New Delhi, India. Alongside direct interventions and engagement with community members through tailored programming and the development of a support infrastructure, it is crucial to raise awareness of structural inequalities, discrimination, and the hostile conditions associated with homelessness, while building a system of solidarity and localised support mechanisms for homeless people across the city.