Urban

The Toll of Cold Waves on Urban Homeless Populations

Delhi’s homeless population faces fatal risks during cold waves due to inadequate shelters and poor resources, highlighting the need for urgent action by government machinery and civil society.

Lakhs of people in India experience homelessness, often living in conditions unfit for human habitation – on streets, under flyovers, or in makeshift shelters. In Delhi-NCR alone, approximately 46,724 homeless people were recorded in the 2011 census. However, civil rights organisations and campaigns, such as Shahri Adhikar Manch: Begharon ke Saath, argue that this figure grossly underrepresents the real number, which they estimate exceeds 3 lakh.

Homelessness is driven by a multitude of factors, including rural poverty, unemployment, caste discrimination, displacement due to land acquisition or natural disasters, and unplanned urbanisation. These intersecting factors not only push individuals into homelessness but also leave them particularly vulnerable to seasonal hardships. Inadequate shelter and poor living conditions exacerbate risks throughout the year.

During winter and rainy seasons, homeless individuals seek shelter to protect themselves from the cold and to avoid potentially fatal conditions like hypothermia. However, shelters often lack basic facilities such as clean water, blankets, adequate food, and sanitation, and the resources provided are of substandard quality. Moreover, communicable respiratory illnesses are common in colder months. These illnesses continue to impact immunity even during the summer months, when dehydration and heatstroke take a greater toll on a weakened body.

Mortality rates among homeless persons are high during this period. According to data tabulated by the National Forum for Homeless Housing Rights, 474 homeless individuals died in Delhi between November 15, 2024, and January 10, 2025. It was recorded that approximately eight homeless persons died every day in January 2024.

As Delhi-NCR grapples with increasingly severe cold waves every winter, the condition of its homeless population is a concerning yet neglected issue. At Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), we advocate for the rights and well-being of homeless persons across the region. However, while there is growing discourse on climate change and its impact on marginalised communities, we’ve observed that urban homeless populations are often overlooked.

The negative stereotyping of persons rendered homeless

The stigma surrounding homelessness compounds the challenges faced by homeless individuals during extreme weather. They are frequently subjected to negative stereotypes, making it difficult for them to access shelters and other services they are entitled to. They are also often segregated into ghettos, bastis, and shelters – temporary housing that is often the first to be displaced during urban development projects.

For many years, we have seen frequent development projects for the purposes of urban ‘beautification’. Spaces under flyovers are regularly being turned into parks and charging stations, leaving people who previously lived there vulnerable to the cold. Recently, in Jangpura, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) razed temporary tents and semi-pucca houses in an informal settlement, rendering many homeless.

This invisibilisation of the homeless in urban centres often results in their rights and needs being sidelined. Consequently, they are overlooked in the development of climate solutions and policies. Despite consistent data on the impact of global warming and climate change on homeless populations being published since 2014, our efforts to present these findings to authorities have elicited little response.

Existing provisions fall short

Delhi stands out as the only Indian city with a Winter Action Plan (WAP), partially designed to address homelessness during cold waves. This plan aims to ensure adequate shelter, food, clothing, and sanitation for the homeless, recognising that proper shelters are critical for survival in harsh winters. However, its implementation often falls short.

Shelters lack basic resources, with blankets purchased years ago now worn out, unclean, and ineffective for insulation. There are few clean drinking water and sanitation facilities, and regular monitoring of shelters is absent (despite being called for in the WAP). While porta cabins and temporary arrangements are made for the winter, these structures are not designed to withstand the harsh cold. In addition, they fail to address the long-term need for permanent and properly maintained shelters.

According to the WAP, the Delhi government will set up 250 new temporary shelters (in the form of pagoda tents and porta cabins) to support the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board’s (DUSIB) 197 shelter homes with a stated capacity of 7,092 persons. Even with the additional temporary shelters, the number and capacity still fall far short of providing shelter to the lakhs of homeless in Delhi. Besides, even the official numbers do not reflect the reality on the ground.

Permanent shelters often fail to meet capacity and quality standards. For instance, a shelter in Fatehpuri, Chandni Chowk, with an area of 8,126 square feet – short of the required 10,000 square feet – is supposed to house 450 individuals but can only accommodate 130 comfortably. Despite this, more than 600 people are crammed into the space, sleeping in unhygienic and overcrowded conditions.

Women’s shelters face similar issues. One such shelter we visited claimed to have space for 41 women but had sleeping arrangements for 20 at most. In reality, the available space allowed for no more than six women to sleep comfortably. These conditions reveal the severe inadequacies in shelter infrastructure and management.

Additionally, shelter homes are often repurposed during certain events. For instance, during elections, they are converted into voter centres. Homeless persons who use these centres are forced to vacate. We recently sent a letter to Delhi’s chief electoral officer, requesting that Shelter NS Code 176 – specifically designated for homeless persons with disabilities – not be turned into voter centre. Not only is this in contravention with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, but it is also a humanitarian concern, as persons with disabilities are more vulnerable to the cold due to physical and mental conditions.

India’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), through its Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) scheme, outlines requirements for providing shelter during various seasons. The scheme emphasises linking homeless individuals to mainstream government schemes, such as registration for PDS cards, BPL cards, pensions, admission of children to government schools, and financial inclusion through banks.

However, a significant barrier to accessing shelters and these schemes is the requirement for identification documents such as Aadhaar cards. Many homeless individuals lack these identity documents due to their transient lifestyles, the loss of IDs, or because they never had them in the first place. In 2025 alone, we have seen multiple cases of homeless individuals being denied entry to shelters because they did not have an Aadhaar card. This exclusionary practice not only limits access to shelters but also further marginalises the homeless, leaving them to endure harsh conditions without adequate support.

Lastly, due to gaps in data collection as well as the reporting of the true number of homeless people in Delhi-NCR, there is no accurate data available to help authorities plan and allocate resources for shelters and other welfare programmes.

What can we do as active citizens?

These systemic failures – ranging from poor implementation of policies to exclusionary practices – highlight the urgent need for inclusive, long-term solutions to address homelessness effectively, so that homeless individuals can survive extreme conditions of heat, rain, and cold with dignity.

1. Changing public perception and awareness

A fundamental shift in the public perception of homelessness is necessary – not only to reduce the stigma against homeless individuals and foster empathy among urban populations, but also to critically examine the facilities being provided to this population in extreme weather.

Civil society organisations (CSOs), volunteers, and concerned citizens play a critical role in bridging these gaps. They should actively monitor local shelters, assess their conditions, and raise awareness. Campaigns and initiatives, such as those by CHD and Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, have been working to address systemic issues. Through extensive surveys and resource mobilisation, these organisations have brought attention to the inadequacies in shelter conditions and often stepped in to fill the gaps left by government systems.

Community engagement is equally vital. The collective action demonstrated by civil society during the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, highlighted how mobilisation and collaboration can mitigate the impact of crises on vulnerable populations. These efforts serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of grassroots initiatives in driving systemic change and should be extended to issues concerning the homeless.

2. Strengthening accountability and monitoring

Since it is the state’s duty to provide homeless persons with proper protection and resources to survive, there is no need to create any new physical infrastructure, such as alternative shelter homes. Instead, we must hold the authorities accountable to the government machinery, laws, and schemes that already exist. The WAP is a good example of a government-approved plan with funds allocated to it. Our role as CSOs is to ensure that it is enforced.

The convergence of various departments is also essential for addressing homelessness effectively. The WAP requires efforts from different government agencies responsible for water supply, sanitation, food distribution, and health services. However, coordination between the departments and agencies – for instance, the DUSIB and the NULM – is often missing, leading to gaps in service delivery. Moreover, the absence of accountability and effective monitoring undermines any collaboration, even when it occurs.

Therefore, third-party audits, regular inspections, and social monitoring are critical to ensuring transparency and adherence to basic standards. Surveys conducted by CSOs or volunteer groups can identify gaps, such as inadequate facilities or shelter shortages, and alert authorities to act.

3. Advocating for improved implementation

In our experience, petitions and court interventions have resulted in positive directives to improve shelter conditions, but implementation remains a persistent challenge. Advocacy and public pressure are crucial in ensuring compliance with these directives and bridging the gap between policy and practice.

Additionally, sustained advocacy through media, social media, and public forums is essential to amplify the voices of marginalised communities and highlight systemic failures. Such efforts must aim to transform shelter management from a temporary fix to a long-term, sustainable solution, ensuring dignity and basic living conditions for the homeless.

The state of the urban homeless during harsh winters highlights systemic failures in policy implementation and societal priorities. In Delhi-NCR, despite policies such as the WAP, gaps in execution leave thousands without adequate shelter or basic resources, making their struggle for dignity more difficult amidst extreme conditions. While the government must strengthen its response, change is a collective responsibility, and each of us has a part to play. Civil society, nonprofits, and individuals must persistently question the authorities, offer direct support, raise awareness, and advocate for those marginalised by homelessness.

Sunil Kumar Aledia is the executive director of Centre for Holistic Development (CHD) and national convenor of the National Forum for Homeless Housing Rights (NFHHR).

This article was originally published on India Development Review.

Yeh Dilli Maange More

As Delhi gets ready to vote, a citizen-led charter calls for systemic solutions – sustainable mobility, safer streets and inclusive public spaces – for a better quality of life.

You travel within Delhi from point A to point B using public transport, covering the last kilometre on foot. Unsure of the bus timings, you spend 40 minutes waiting for it to arrive. You board the bus and hop off at another bus stop before walking to your destination. During this journey, you navigate uneven footpaths; jump over open drains; stroll past erratically placed street lights, electric vehicle (EV) stations, and public toilets; encounter vendors; and walk across overhead bridges, metro stations, non-demarcated pedestrian crossings, and inaccessible road dividers. Before you know it, you have unknowingly experienced the outcome of many domains of governance over a short distance.

Although we are often unaware of its presence in our day-to-day experiences, governance is not an invisible force. It is tangible, manifesting in Delhi’s diverse public infrastructure, which is governed by a complex network of departments and ministries with varying levels of authority. During elections, our engagement with governance becomes more pronounced.

With the Delhi elections around the corner, the question is how 15.5 million eligible voters can not only influence local governance but also shift the trajectory of urban development and social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

There is a growing call for a more systemic approach to the right to a better quality of life in urban areas. The future of the city hinges on adequate state provisions for comprehensive mobility infrastructure, street safety, inclusive public spaces, and gender-responsive planning.

The Sustainable Mobility Network, a pan-India network of more than 40 organisations working to decarbonise the mobility sector, is attempting to make urban governance architecture less daunting. These organisations—which include nonprofits, collectives, campaigns, and movements—have come together to articulate a shared vision for Delhi through the Dilli Charter. The charter represents a collective aspiration for a Delhi that is accessible, inclusive, and sustainable.

Moving beyond ‘Roti, Kapda, Makaan’

The Dilli Charter was developed through extensive consultations with more than 30 urban mobility and air pollution experts and a broad range of public transport users to ensure that it reflects the voices and aspirations of Delhi’s citizens.¹ Following comprehensive secondary research by City Sabha, Raahgiri Foundation, Safetipin, and Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC), the charter was presented for feedback to external experts, including urban planners, environmental researchers, academics, and civil society representatives. This feedback was gathered through a group public consultation in early January, followed by a series of individual discussions. It was then circulated via email and social media among Delhi residents and the general public. This was done to ascertain that the Dilli Charter serves as a bridge between Delhi’s citizens and its decision-makers, building on the significant work undertaken by the Master Plan for Delhi 2021 and the Main Bhi Dilli campaign.

State elections, held every five years, bring hope as residents vote for leaders who can address local issues. These elections offer a critical opportunity to voice concerns on governance, public services, and accountability. Key issues such as water, electricity, healthcare, pollution, housing, jobs, and welfare schemes dominate the agenda. However, after more than 75 years of independence, the narrative must shift beyond the basic needs of ‘Roti, Kapda, Makaan’ (food, clothing, and housing). While these are undeniably essential, today’s citizens are looking for a nuanced, contextual vision that addresses prevailing issues such as quality of life, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability. Unfettered consumption, pollution, and inequality make it necessary to consider every resident’s quality of life. This means moving beyond short-term promises and focusing on long-term solutions, such as mobility infrastructure.

How people move across the city is central to how it develops. Today, Delhi boasts the longest metro system in the country, along with one of the largest bus fleets in India, including the second-largest electric bus fleet. It was also the first state government to introduce an aggregator policy for ride-hailing services. However, the question remains: Is every person—regardless of gender, age, ability, profession, and income—able to navigate the city seamlessly, particularly using non-motorised or public transport every day and during climate extremes? The simple answer is no.

What does the Dilli Charter entail?

The charter outlines an ambitious vision for transforming Delhi’s mobility infrastructure, focusing on inclusivity, sustainability, safety, and governance. Its key points include:

1. Expanding the infrastructure and making it greener

Core initiatives comprise expanding the bus fleet to 20,000 buses, prioritising zero-emission vehicles, and improving last-mile connectivity via the Mohalla Bus Scheme,² particularly in underserved and resettlement areas. The plan also emphasises affordable, frequent public transport such as e-rickshaws and minibuses, as well as developing an integrated, continuous, and expansive network of non-motorised transport and bus lanes, cycle stands, shaded pedestrian pathways, metro stations, bus shelters and stops, and other public transit hubs.

2. Promoting inclusion and safety

The charter mandates that all public transport systems comply with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and gender-responsive principles. This includes ensuring accessibility and safe transport for women and marginalised communities, and creating gender-sensitive policies such as night-time bus halts for women. It also underlines the need for gender representation in the workforce and enhanced safety features, including CCTVs and distress buttons on public buses.

3. Tackling air pollution

Transport emissions are a major contributor to Delhi’s air pollution crisis. To address this, the Dilli Charter advocates for the promotion of walking, cycling, and EVs. It proposes the establishment of low emission zones (LEZs) in pollution hotspots and sets a goal for a 100 per cent EV transition by 2030, with solar-powered charging stations near transit hubs. Additionally, the plan supports integrating non-motorised transport into the broader transport network, so that urban mobility is less car-dependent and more people-centric.

4. Strengthening governance and accountability

Different aspects of Delhi’s infrastructure are administered by different governance actors with overlapping responsibilities. This complicates not only the division of power between levels of government but also responsiveness and accountability.

The Union Government oversees spatial planning, land, housing, and law and order; the Delhi government manages water, electricity, health, transport, and revenue; the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) handles local tasks such as waste disposal, property tax, and birth and death registration; and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) plays a crucial role in city planning and development. This fragmented structure, combined with unclear accountability and poor coordination, hinders effective service delivery in a resource-constrained environment.

The charter calls for better coordination among transport departments through the establishment of a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA). It also advocates for the publication of government data to clarify how the funds collected from fines and parking are being used. Additionally, it proposes the establishment of parking management area plans to alleviate congestion, and advocates for enhanced enforcement of policies. These comprehensive measures aim to create a safer, more efficient, and equitable transport system for all Delhi residents.

Now, let’s revisit the first scenario from this article. Imagine the same commute but with a well-planned, efficient system in place: a reliable, on-time bus service with women drivers and marshals ensuring safety, storage facilities for street vendors and construction workers, and panic buttons for emergencies. Upon exiting, you find well-lit streets with clear signage and bus routes. Public toilets and crèche facilities are integrated into the bus shelter. Pedestrian-only footpaths, separate cycle lanes, and designated vendor spots align seamlessly with thoughtful urban infrastructure.

A charter, a manifesto, or even a set of demands will not turn this vision into a reality overnight. However, what such an effort can do is pave the way for a more accessible, safe, and inclusive urban experience for residents through a collective, informed citizenry. Civil society organisations in the mobility ecosystem as well as the media have access to this charter, and they can use it to hold our government accountable. The Sustainable Mobility Network partners have been engaging with various political leaders to ensure a large-scale buy-in and acceptance of the charter, regardless of which government leads Delhi.

This article was originally published on India Development Review.

Three Workers Die While Cleaning Sewage at Leather Complex Near Kolkata

The deaths have taken place five days after the Supreme Court ordered a complete ban on manual scavenging and sewage cleaning in six major metropolitan cities including Kolkata.

Kolkata: Three workers died today (February 2) at the Bantala Leather Complex near Kolkata after drowning during a sewage and chemical waste cleaning exercise.

The deaths have taken place five days after the Supreme Court ordered a complete ban on manual scavenging and sewage cleaning in six major metropolitan cities including Kolkata.

The three – Farzem Sheikh, Hashi Sheikh and Suman Sardar – are all from the Murshidabad district, originally.

Their deaths and the recovery of their corpses a full four hours after they fell led to tension in the region. Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim, who visited the area, told reporters and locals that those who are responsible for the incident will be punished.

Local media has reported that cleaning work began at 9 am in the morning today. Chemical waste was being cleaned when the pipe broke, causing the three to fall 10 feet. Their bodies were recovered by a team of police, fire services and State Disaster Relief Forces at around 1.30 pm.

It is as yet unclear if the drowning or the exposure to poisonous substances caused the deaths.

Delivering its order, the apex court had said that it was “fed up” with seeking compliance – which remains merely academic in nature,

Affordable Housing, Public Transport, Climate Resilience: What the Budget Can Do for Cities

The video outlines five focus areas: sustainable planning, affordable housing, public transport, climate resilience and stronger local bodies.

In this episode of ‘Budget 2025: What’s at Stake?’, public policy expert and former Deputy Mayor of Shimla Tikender Singh Panwar discusses the importance of the Budget for urban governance, highlighting challenges like infrastructure gaps and inequality. He outlines five focus areas: sustainable planning, affordable housing, public transport, climate resilience and stronger local bodies.

This series is a collaboration between the Centre for Financial Accountability and The Wire.

India Needs to Raise a Stink About its Sewers

At the core of this problem is the notion of casteism, which has been associated with sewage for centuries and prevents the consuming class and its representatives from viewing this issue as an engineering problem to solve.

The Census of 2011 estimated that only 35% of the then 100 million Indian urban households were connected to a sewage system of any kind, implying that India had no visibility on the onward movement of sewage beyond the toilets in most urban households. This was over and above the sewage emitted from the nearly 140 million rural households, the status of which was equally opaque. One and a half decades later and without a new census, we can only conjecture if the needle has shifted substantially on this count.

Let us assume reasonably, based on markers like the growth of non-agri commerce and housing, that since 2011, urbanisation would have grown around 30%. In that case, the current sewage generated from the households in class 1 cities (468 with a population of more than 100,000 as per census of 2011) and class 2 cities (3,744 with a population of more than 50,000 as per census of 2011) in India would stand at more than 33,000 million litres per day (MLD). Against this generated sewage in urban India, the total existing installed capacity of sewage treatment plants (STPs) is a meagre 6,190 MLD, with an additional 1,743 MLD capacity still under-development. Taking both into account, India’s sewage processing capacity stands at an abysmal 24% of the total sewage generated in urban India alone, and the less said about rural India, the better.

Differently put, the Indian state’s sewage processing capacity is at the same level as our literacy and electricity penetration in the early decades after independence.

We can shun this severe lack of sewage infrastructure as a handicap of a developing nation that needs to prioritise roads, trains and airports, but being a 60% private consumption-led economy that likes to flex its economic might among the top five nations on the planet, India needs to confront the reality that when this large an economy is enticed with consumption-led growth, the aftermath of that consumption also grows proportionally. The growth of malls, hotels, private hospitals, eateries, banquet halls, condominiums, factories, offices, quick commerce and food deliveries cannot happen sans the accompanying waste. Yet it is precisely this point about sewage infrastructure that India’s polity has consistently overlooked.

In the Union budget of 2023 for instance, road infrastructure was assigned an eye-watering Rs 2.7 lakh crores, whereas sewage infrastructure was clubbed with drinking water and received an allocation of Rs 60,000 crores under one scheme and Rs 80,000 crores under another.

Sewage lines within slum settlements. Photo: Jignesh Mistry.

Even state governments appear to have this scornful attitude towards sewage infrastructure. Still, it seems that the more you ignore sewage, the more it will force you to take heed. Precisely for this reason, it is disfiguring India’s water bodies with faecal contamination, causing excessive algae growth, foul odour and ecological degradation. Dumping of untreated sewage is stressing public health and exacerbating the pollution crisis. People living on the margins particularly in slums and low-income housing clusters bear the brunt of this in the form of contaminated drinking water and vector diseases.

This issue has consistently and repeatedly featured in most cases of pollution heard by the judiciary across the country. For instance, while hearing a matter relating to the implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in Delhi, the Supreme Court in January of this year observed that it is unacceptable that 3,000 tonnes of solid waste remained untreated in the national capital daily and that the government has no resolution planned before 2027. Similarly, in a recent report of the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board, it said that the water in the Ganga at Haridwar was found to be unfit for drinking. Ironically, Haridwar is the first city through which the river enters the plains and one of the holiest of cities for Hindus. Such hard evidence on record is an admission of the helplessness of the state that stands idly by and stares at the lack of sewage infrastructure for handing the collection, processing and recycling of human waste.

But chronic under-investment in sewage infrastructure is just one part of India’s miserable record with sewage. India also does not have an institutional framework to manage whatever minuscule infrastructure that it has managed to install till date. Anywhere between 25-30% of India’s installed sewage treatment plant (STP) capacity at any point in time lies defunct for the want of maintenance, funds, spare parts or human capability. Such an abysmal rate of downtime of its sewage infrastructure exists for the want of an institutional mechanism that can lay down guidelines for technology, operating procedures and training of human talent to manage these STPs.

India also does not have a working model that defines financial and operating principles. For instance, once STPs are installed, how should these operate at high up-times? What happens when there are breakdowns? What is the budget needed to operate these STPs and under what heads should it be allocated? What is the measurement and monitoring system for these STPs? How many engineers and technicians are required to run them? What should their qualifications be? Do we have a pipeline of environmental and sanitation engineers and technicians to manage these STPs? What will be the onward movement of sludge and water from these STPs? What is the mitigation system in the cases of lapses? All these questions may sound commonsensical for any engineering intervention, but in the lack of it, the Indian state pulls such stunts that would be hilarious if the subject matter was anything other than sewage. In a recent revelation in Gurugram Municipal Corporation, it was found that an electrical engineer hired to run the electricity infrastructure of the city was tasked to run the city’s STPs because the necessary talent needed to run STPs was not on the rolls.

In a one-of-its-kind study conducted by IIT Rourkee in 2023 on the Ganga water sewage treatment plant, it was found that the sludge had a high potential to be used as fertilizer and bricks, after treatment for heavy metals, nitrogen and phosphorous. The study stated that this sludge could be classified into Class A and Class B as per the norms established by United States Environment Protection Agency. While Class A sludge is safe to be used as fertilizer for edible crops, Class B is unsafe for such use. Most of the sludge found was Class B. This is the conclusion of a study on only one cluster. Now imagine the scientific research and investigation needed for 33,000 MLD of sewage in the whole of urban India.

Recycling of sludge cannot be pursued in any seriousness in the absence of this kind of precise and comprehensive data on sludge. At present, India does not even have a scientific hypothesis that can be used to create a framework for managing the onward movement of sludge from the installed STPs.

India needs to urgently increase the funding allocation for building sewage infrastructure, just to catch up. This means nearly Rs 1 lakh crores towards asset building alone, not accounting for the land and the pipeline it will require, and another Rs 25,000 crores of annual allocation towards operating costs, merely to bridge the sewage management deficit in urban India. India needs a sewage management board, much on the lines of water and electricity boards as part of the state’s capacity to ensure direction setting and compliance. In the absence of such boards, we lack a baseline definition of optimum penetration and types of STPs required. It should be the responsibility of such boards to determine the types of STPs (mix of off-grid micro STPs versus an industrial scale integrated set-up) on the basis of the population density, source of sewage and urbanisation plans.

India also needs an institutional intervention to train technical manpower to be sanitation experts who should be running these STPs, conducting scientific research and establishing forward linkages for recycled water and sludge. The gap in such expertise of the Indian state towards managing STPs is what has hitherto prevented the private sector from loosening its purse strings and investing in this sector with gusto. India needs to shed biases it has for STP infrastructure and must learn the lesson that a “world class” sewage infrastructure’s multiplier effect is at par with all other infra themes, if not better, on human development and ecological indicators like learning, mother and child health, productivity, and soil and water health.

A sewage worker with no protective gear. Photo: Flickr/International Labour Organization (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

But as straight forward as it may sound, it is a flight of fantasy, sadly, because the subject of sewage is an orphan in the current scheme of infrastructure expansions envisaged for the country. It has been expelled from the blue-eyed club of glittering airports, swanky bullet trains, zipping highways and the hosting of the Olympics. No nationalist desires India to become the world-beaters on STPs, when selfies with a human congregation on the banks of a polluted river can satiate their chest thumping urges. The fabled “middle class” has checked into condominiums and bought themselves out of this crisis. At the core of all of this is the notion of casteism, which has been associated with sewage for centuries and prevents the consuming class and its representatives from viewing this issue as an exciting engineering problem to solve. Casteism tricks them into viewing it as an issue of impurity for which a class of people are divinely ordained to handle.

This explains society’s callous attitude towards the countless accidents and deaths of sanitation workers who go down into the sewers to keep them running, and the ease with which we live in the presence of unappetising visuals and contaminated surroundings.

Make no mistake, one less aerobridge at the airport, one less lane on the motorway, one less statue of a leader or one less air-conditioned train on the track will not take away from development claims by 2047, but without the treatment of most of the human excreta that India generates, no modicum of development claim will ever stick.

Ankur Bisen is the author of Wasted: The Messy Story of Sanitation in India, A Manifesto for Change (Macmillan, 2019). The author is on X: @AnkurBisen1

Is Urban Infrastructure Resilient to the Growing Climate Change Risks?

While infrastructural changes have brought advancements in urban settlements, they have also produced negative impacts like urban flooding, extreme heat, air pollution and other urban vulnerabilities, which pose a major challenge to the population.

New Delhi: Growing urbanisation in India has impacted the rising population within the major urban centres. Rapid changes in infrastructure, transportation, and energy consumption have greatly affected people’s ways of living, a new study has found.

In collaboration with Deloitte, Artha Global’s Centre for Rapid Insights – a research, consulting, and network-facilitation organisation based in Mumbai – conducted a series of surveys on issues relating to public transport, water supply and energy efficiency to assess the resilience of urban infrastructure to climate risks and how the urban population adapts to them.

A total of 8,000 urban residents across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore were surveyed via a series of phone calls via Interactive Voice Response.

The study found that while infrastructural changes have brought advancements, they have also produced negative impacts, including urban flooding, extreme heat, urban vulnerabilities, and air pollution.

On transportation

Transportation is an emerging challenge in urban centres. Among the key factors affecting the usage of public transportation across cities, common infrastructural barriers included poor last-mile connectivity (28%), safety and cleanliness (24%) and unreliable service (22%).

Poor last-mile connectivity remains the most important barrier to using public transport. Source: Urban Resilience Across Cities in India | Artha Centre for Rapid Insight

Poor last-mile connectivity was a major issue in Bangalore (48%) and Kolkata (32%). Meanwhile, safety and cleanliness were big barriers for Chennai (31%), and unreliable service was a persistent problem in Mumbai (32%).

Additionally, the report also pointed out that with the growing uptake of public transport, a better solution would be required to address these issues directly.

On water supply

Supply of piped water and drinking water availability emerged as another concern, as per the report.

According to the 76th National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), as cited in the report, while 40.9% of households in these cities have piped water connections, only 25% have piped drinking water connections.

Meanwhile, the study found that of the total surveyed residents, while 62% had access to piped water supply daily, 21% had no such access.

The highest shortage was in Kolkata, where 44% of the respondents did not have piped water supply; 24% in Bangalore and 22% in Delhi lacked piped water connection.

Kolkata has the highest percentage of respondents that lack access to piped water supply. Source: Urban Resilience Across Cities in India | Artha Centre for Rapid Insight

Furthermore, 46% of the total surveyed residents relied on supplemental water sources, and 24% frequently or always needed to supplement their piped water supply. Environmental issues like erratic monsoons and declining groundwater levels are expected to worsen the situation.

On energy-efficient households

A third survey has found that energy consumption patterns are becoming increasingly unsustainable in major cities, highlighting the need for more efficient systems. Solar panels were found to be the most commonly adopted energy efficient system.

Solar energy represents a promising alternative for reducing monthly electricity expenses in Indian cities. However, the findings deduced that high initial costs and inadequate resources remain a challenge in installing these.

Solar panels are the most commonly adopted energy-efficient system for homes. Source: Urban Resilience Across Cities in India | Artha Centre for Rapid Insight

The survey observed that 58% of the residents had not adopted any energy-efficient technologies for electricity at home. Meanwhile, 25% of the residents said that they lacked the motivation to adopt energy-efficient technologies, and 20% identified high initial costs as a major barrier.

High initial costs were the biggest barrier for residents in Bangalore (36%) and Mumbai (26%), while rental properties emerged as a huge challenge in Chennai (42%).

For Delhi (32%) and Kolkata (31%), lack of government support was the main reason for not choosing sustainable energy alternatives. Notably, the Delhi government provides free electricity up to 200 units.

High initial costs is a major barrier for not opting for sustainable energy sources in Bangalore and Mumbai. Source: Urban Resilience Across Cities in India | Artha Centre for Rapid Insight

Energy conservation is aided by financial mechanisms. Electricity prices in India have risen significantly over the past decade, the survey observed, emphasising the urgent need for sustainable and cost-effective energy solutions.

Citing one such scheme, the survey mentioned how the Andhra Pradesh government’s 25% subsidy on total fixed capital investment for green projects has successfully incentivised sustainable practices and provided a model for scaling adoption across other states.

Alternative energy sources, disaster readiness, and less dependence on electricity-run resources must aid urban growth and expansion. The availability of these allows cities to be more resistant to the high population rise and prepare for a better tomorrow for future generations, it stated.

Zainab S Qazi is an editorial intern at The Wire.

Budget 2025: Civil Society Groups Propose Policy for Affordable Public Transport

The draft policy proposes several measures to create a fairer and more sustainable public transport network.

New Delhi: Greenpeace India, in collaboration with the Public Transport Forum, has launched a citizen’s draft policy for affordable public transport in India.

The policy, developed through consultations with experts and citizens, aims to battle the inefficiencies of the current system, such as underfunding and over reliance on private vehicles.

The draft policy proposes several measures to create a fairer and more sustainable public transport network.

Key recommendations include introducing “Climate Tickets” to provide fare-free and subsidised public transport options, increasing central government funding and prioritising public transport infrastructure over private vehicle-focused projects.

Photo: By arrangement

“This union budget can be an opportunity for the central government to exhibit their commitment towards achieving India’s climate goals by investing more into making public transport accessible, affordable and efficient in India. The policy draft provides a roadmap for creating a more sustainable, equitable, and efficient and more importantly affordable public transportation system for India,” Aakiz Farooq, Campaigner at Greenpeace India

“For a country like ours which has immense potential for sustainable growth we need equity in access to opportunities for jobs, healthcare, leisure etc and an accessible public transport for all is a key component of this. This is not about distributing free tickets but about the state’s responsibility towards citizens – especially groups like women, elderly, children who are key to any nation building exercise,” he added.

According to the draft policy, the inefficiencies of the current system include inadequate bus fleets, high fares, safety issues and limited accessibility.

It also critiques the disproportionate allocation of resources towards road infrastructure at the expense of public transport.

The police proposes the following solutions to meet these challenges:

Universal Fare-Free Public Transport: Phased introduction of “Climate Tickets,” initially for vulnerable groups and eventually for all citizens.
Resource Reallocation: Redirect investments from road and metro projects to public transport.
Infrastructure Improvements: Doubling bus fleets, creating dedicated bus lanes, and modernising depots and stops.
Worker Rights: Ensuring fair wages and safe working conditions, recognising public transport jobs as green jobs.
Funding Mechanisms: Establishing a state-level public transport fund and leveraging climate finance.
Public Awareness Campaigns: Addressing stigma around free public transport and promoting it as a right.

Nishant, coordinator of the Public Transport Forum, said that the draft serves as a flexible framework for governments to adapt. “Our draft policy highlights how the central government can support this shift, making public transport accessible, safe, and reliable for everyone,” he said.

In Delhi, a Historical Structure Disappears…With a Little Help from Several Government Bodies

From the municipal corporation to the ASI to the National Monuments Authority, clueless government bodies make the task easy for construction companies.

New Delhi: The structure had disappeared even before it was demolished.

A decrepit 17th century domed structure – known as a ‘chhatri’ – that had long fallen off the map of Union government and state archaeology departments has been pushed off entirely from the records, the latest in a long list of structures disappearing from the capital’s map. Situated at Lothian Road, Kashmere Gate, adjacent to the old St Stephens’ College building, the structure was housed in a sprawling complex with trees over a 100 years old.

Locals claim it could have been a temple. A chhatri is usually a covered resting place situated next to a well. The area is replete with structures protected either by the Union or the Delhi governments, including Nicholson’s Cemetery and St James Church.

The structure was demolished recently and has been replaced by a commercial building. No government agency is willing to say who allowed the heritage structure to be demolished. An analysis of the role of each agency involved reveals how government departments often help a historical structure disappear.

The structure at Lothian Road, Kashmere Gate. Photo: By arrangement.

No idea about structure: MCD

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s office, incidentally, is next door to the demolished structure. The agency not only saw nothing amiss when the dome was being demolished but even sanctioned a building plan submitted by the private company that now owns it.

But Deputy Commissioner of the City-SP Zone, Vandana Rao, told The Wire that she had no idea about this structure. “Any development that takes place with regards to a heritage property has to be in consonance with heritage norms,” she said.

When told that the structure has already been demolished, she said, “I will examine and act as per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.”

‘ASI wrote to DC’

The state archaeology department was aware of the demolition and admitted so to The Wire. Sources in the Delhi circle of ASI said that when officials learnt that the structure was to be demolished, the ASI sent a team to the spot. However, since it is not a protected monument, the team could only apprise state government agencies and not take any action to stop the demolition. “A conservation assistant had written a letter to the deputy commissioner and the sub-divisional magistrate concerned apprising them of the pending demolition but nothing was done,” an ASI source said.

An official spokesperson of the ASI also confirmed the fact that the body had written to the DC and the SDM about this demolition.

The structure at Lothian Road, Kashmere Gate. Photo: By arrangement.

NMA’s permission

There are enough checks and balances in place to stop the demolition of a heritage structure even if it is not protected. One such agency tasked with guarding heritage is the National Monuments Authority. Interestingly, the NMA gave permission to carry out alterations to an existing structure last year. While applying for permission, the new owner did not inform the NMA that a heritage structure already exists at the site or that the structure would be demolished entirely and a new building constructed in its place. The NMA’s permission is mandatory for structures within the walled city area or where monuments are located nearby under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

Once permission is sought, the rules dictate that a “competent authority” – a regional director of the ASI – gets a physical survey of the property done before giving clearance.

A copy of this survey report is also forwarded to the officer-in-charge of the state ASI circle where the property is situated. If, instead of carrying out additions and alterations (for which permission was sought), the private entity tries to demolish and reconstruct the building, the local ASI officer is required to file a first information report. The officer is also required to report to the NMA so it can withdraw permission.

The ASI spokesperson said, “This is not a centrally protected monument. However, the Delhi circle official has already drawn the attention of the DM Delhi by writing to him about the demolition.”

Deputy Commissioner Vandana Rao, quoted earlier as having said that she was not aware of the structure, did not respond to subsequent questions sent by The Wire on whether officials from her office conducted a field visit and how they came to give permission to build a new structure when the NMA had only permitted that alterations and repairs be carried out.

Also read: Conserving India’s Heritage, Modi Style: ‘Adopt’ a Monument, and Build a Restaurant in It

MCD heritage cell and building department wash hands off structure

The MCD heritage cell which gives its nod once NMA approval is given appears equally clueless. Sanjeev Singh, executive engineer at the MCD heritage cell said this was not his domain. “Please talk to the building department. This is not my area. I have no idea about any of these buildings,” he said.

The structure at Lothian Road, Kashmere Gate. Photo: By arrangement.

The building department of the zone concerned has been equally adept at passing the buck. Rajaram Meena, the assistant engineer who sanctioned the building plan that replaced the heritage structure, says he had no involvement in the exercise. “The party applied for permission with building plans directly to the headquarters and the sanctions were also issued directly by headquarters. I have no role in any of this.”

When this reporter pointed out that as per documents, it is he who gave the go ahead and forwarded the sanction plan to headquarters, Meena disconnected the call.

Prashant Agarwal, the owner of the property said, “There was a well here and this is the chattri of the well. There is no proof that there was a temple here like people are saying.”

“We have checked with the ASI. There is no ancient monument and no trees have been cut. We have permission to construct,” he said.

From Agarwal’s words, its clear that the local ASI office was very much in the know of the impending demolition as well as the private entity that planned to demolish it. And yet, once the demolition began, it limited itself to writing a letter to the authorities concerned.

Land politics

Historian Narayani Gupta is not surprised.

“Monuments add a charm to the place but all that people see is the land that will be made available once the structure goes. Referring to University of Tokyo professor Matsuo Ara who photographed the Islamic architecture of the Sultanate period in Delhi and elsewhere, she says, “Professor Ara had photographed Delhi in the late 1950s and early 1960s. However, when he revisited Delhi in the 1990s, nearly half of those monuments had disappeared.”

Kavita Sharma, former principal of the Hindu College and someone who has been spearheading attempts to renovate the old Hindu College building said that such efforts were a losing battle. “Even Skinners’ Palace [inhabited by James Skinner, British mercenary who raised the Skinners’ Regiment in the 1857 rebellion) was demolished to make way for the State Election Commission’s office and we are only trying to restore the remnants on the side. Such wanton destruction is terrible. The palace itself could have been modified to suit the needs of the Election Commission,” Sharma said.

Local activist Amarjit Singh highlights that the loss of dozens of trees, some a century-old, has incalculable repercussions.

“Construction is usually done at night and by stealth. We have often seen the MCD come and plaster a notice for illegal construction but those are ripped off and the construction continues. The demolition was done a year ago and now three storeys have already been built,” Singh said.

A Winter’s Day in Patna

A writer’s report from his hometown in Bihar.

It is Makar Sankranti today and so cars are stopping by opposite my sister’s house. This is because a jhuggi has come up across from the house on the pavement that borders the park on the other side of the road. A man and a woman have set up their shelter there, a yellow tarp stretched from the park wall over the pavement. This jhuggi has been here for nearly half a year. The couple have four young children, the youngest only a week old. The cars that stop offer blankets or sweets or fruit to the couple in the jhuggi. I see that the jhuggi is performing a valuable social function: it serves as a conveniently-located roadside drop for the well-to-do who want to perform charitable acts.

The man who lives in the jhuggi is named Biroj. He told me his family has no access to water or electricity. He gets water from inside the park. They came to Patna from Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh. Biroj sometimes gets a dishwasher’s job with the restaurants in the area. His wife said that it has been difficult in the cold to keep the baby warm. When I was talking to her she was heating water on a stove to wash the baby’s face. Their other children are very young, all seemingly less than five years old, and they have been taught to beg. I haven’t had a single experience with them over the past few days during which I haven’t been subjected to a high whining tone, each kid trying to wheedle something out of me. I’m sympathetic to the family’s needs but the endless, insistent beseeching has proved testing for my liberal sentiments.

A little while ago, traffic was stopped on the road in all directions. A swift cavalcade of cars came by and made an awkward turn into a lane nearby. My sister said that Chirag Paswan must be hosting a chura-dahi party for Makar Sankranti and the governor had just arrived. Paswan’s home is the one I pass in the morning on my way to the park for a walk. The park is a place where I keep my eyes and ears open. It is difficult to keep one’s ears open when the passing men shout Jai Shri Ram at a rather challenging decibel level. But I like listening to more ordinary conversation. This morning, a man sitting on a bench in the park was saying into his phone: “Kekar ghar mein ladai nahi hai? Kekar ghar mein lobh nahi hai? (Where is the home where there is no strife? Where is the home where there is no greed?)”

Such wisdom! Welcome to the land of the Buddha!

Also read: Bangladeshi Modern Art Starts Its Revolution – From a Basement

I have been driving around town and am always startled by the explosion of commerce, the busy collection of high-end stores and eateries. You can pass through large sections of the town that appear asleep even at eight in the evening; but then there are other places where electronic ads for expensive fabrics and jewellery light up the night sky. In crowded markets, I have observed this time the saffron flags with an angry Hanuman. Also, the more exclusive baristas and a swank-looking new mall. But there is also space for the less well-heeled masses. Last night, I went to Patna’s Marine Drive. A broad avenue called Atal Path curves around the edge of the neighbourhoods familiar to me from my youth and then you arrive at a promenade on the banks of the river Ganga framed by a long row of lights.

Let’s not exaggerate the reality: Ganga has slipped far away from town. You cannot really see the river; you have to imagine it. Meanwhile, there is a river of humanity close at hand on Marine Drive. There is a brightly-lit sign that says “I heart चका चक Patna.” (I liked the mix of languages in that slogan; it felt like home.) After that sign, there were unending rows of stalls and kiosks selling everything from litti-chokha and litti-chicken to momos and noodles. I also saw a horse that exuded the patience of a gentleman who has retired from a job in something like Indian railways; he bore what life pressed on him with an air of quiet resignation and even acceptance.

This evening has been different. I went to a cafe next door and met with some old friends. These friends have been active in left circles for decades. There was Nivedita who has long practised journalism in Bihar, a pioneer in feminist reporting, and her younger sister Mona Jha who has been active in theatre. Mona’s husband Javed Akhtar Khan has now retired from teaching Hindi literature in college and is collaborating with Mona on new theatre projects. Also joining us for a while before rushing off to the clinic where he volunteers was Nivedita’s husband, Dr Shakeel. The good doctor has long fascinated me because from Patna – a place that many would consider a cultural backwater – he went to Angola in 1981 because, as he says, Patna in the 1970s and ‘80s was “a bastion of revolutionary middle-class intelligentsia”.

While I was ordering coffee at the counter, I could look out of the cafe’s glass walls. Darkness had fallen and the couple in the jhuggi had lit a fire to keep themselves warm. A motorcycle stopped and the rider gave the couple a small white polythene bag.

I sat down with my friends and we talked about Patna. In the first 10-15 years after independence, there had been great energy and enterprise in Patna. Those years saw the construction of institutions like the Premchand Rangshala, Rabindra Bhavan, Raj Bhasha Parishad, and even the Moin-ul-Haq stadium. In the years that have followed, there has been decline and even devastation in the name of development. Recently, a part of the famous Khuda Baksh Library was demolished to make way for the proposed metro. The old Dak Bungalow with its famous Dutch architecture has disappeared. Nearly all the bookshops have been closed. There were words offered in praise of the old Coffee House where poets like Phanishwar Nath Renu and Nagarjuna would gather and recite poems. I told my companions that they ought to read my novel My Beloved Life: I pay tribute to the Coffee House and the poets in that novel. In a fit of candor, my comrades confessed that they hadn’t yet got around to reading my book but promised, somewhat recklessly, that they were going to read it soon.

Also read: Drawing a Line: An Evening With Joe Sacco

Our coffee had been drunk. I wondered whether the politicians had finished their chura-dahi dinner at the end of the lane. When I looked out, I could see that the fire outside the jhuggi had been reduced to dull embers.

I told my friends that one day soon I would once again like to watch their plays. Javed and Mona have been rehearsing and presenting works by Albert Camus. Why Camus? Javed said that the French-Algerian writer had said that there can be many reasons for dying, but no real reason for killing. In their work in the theatre, they were trying to work toward an understanding of violence, in particular the social-psychology of murder. I asked Javed and Mona to write this down in my diary. Then, we said goodbye and stepped out of the cafe. Two of the older kids from the jhuggi were standing on the pavement and they came close with hands open for begging.

Amitava Kumar is the author, most recently, of the novel My Beloved Life.

Can the Ganga Survive the Kumbh Mela?

Will it be able to heal or nourish anyone for very long afterwards?

As millions of Indians flock to the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), one needs to look at how the Ganga and Yamuna rivers are doing.

Can the river ecosystem take the shock of about 40 million people living and bathing in it?

It was only recently that the Yamuna in Delhi was frothing with toxic foam. The river is understood to be carrying industrial and city waste. And despite various National Green Tribunal orders against the discharge of untreated sewage water in the river, practically nothing has been done. I visited Allahabad recently and found that the stretch from the Bullua ghat to Rasoolabad ghat had many sewage creeks entering the river, which bore untreated waste. Most of these sewage lines are right next to designated bathing areas. If we look at the Aarel ghat on the other bank of the river, it tells the same tale. Countless sewage drains also enter the river right before the Triveni Sangam of the Ganga and the Yamuna. Most of this is for all to see, yet so many purported efforts made to stop the sewage from entering the rivers have apparently been fruitless.

The situation is so dire that the sight of dead fish floating in the Ganga and Yamuna is common now. One wonders what happened to the Rs 40,000 crore spent on the Namami Ganga programme in the past decade with Narendra Modi as prime minister. The public relations exercise has failed to clean the river. Far from cleaning the Ganga, the Modi government appears hell bent on further damaging it by allowing hydel projects on her tributaries, thus destroying her ecosystem.

Releasing of more water from dams at Tehri and other hydel projects is only a temporary solution, the health of the river is beyond fragile due to contamination and pollution in Allahabad. The city is ill-equipped to tackle its own sewage waste, so we wonder what will happen once 40 million come to it.

Also read: Supreme Court Panel Clears Five Hydel Projects on Ganga Despite Environmental Concerns

The answer is pretty straight forward, the Ganga will suffer another major blow to its ecosystem once the Kumbh Mela is over. The water of the Ganga is highly polluted and with no plans to reduce sewage and pollutants from entering the river, it will become more toxic. This will end up endangering plants, riverine communities and fishes. The city of Allahabad would have to suffer for months to come from the pollution and a diseased river system.

So what is all this being done for? Definitely not the river Ganga, because if Modi was serious about cleaning the river, then the last 10 years and Rs 40,000 crores is all he needed. If Modi adopted the double-engine approach towards the Namami Ganga programme, maybe there is a good chance the Ganga would be much cleaner and the cities of Allahabad and Kanpur would not be dumping millions of gallons of untreated sewage in the rivers everyday.

Most religious sects are also deeply concerned about the river system and also have been given an unfriendly treatment by the Modi government when it comes to inclusion in the planning process. This is also the first ever “corporate” Kumbh – it is being organised with the help of a firm, Ernst and Young.

Many Hindus treat the river Ganga as their mother. Even outside of religion beliefs, it’s a lifeline for a majority of Indians. All would have been deeply happy if the thousands of crores spent on public relations and posters was actually spent on cleaning the river and blocking the sewage drains. That was the real work that needed to be done. It is clear now that the Kumbh Mela 2025 is a religious event that Modi is exploiting for political mileage. The organisers care little for Hindu faith, spirituality or the health of the river Ganga.

Can the Ganga survive another Kumbh? It will, but her ecosystem will be destroyed for humans, plants and marine life alike. This could become a hot bed for infections and further pollute the river.

The river will survive, but I do not think it will be able to heal or nourish anyone for very long afterwards.

Indra Shekhar Singh is an independent agri-policy analyst and writer.