Rising Temperatures Pose New Challenges for Calcutta’s Homeless

The city’s homeless population is facing new challenges as rising temperatures exacerbate their already difficult living conditions. Families living on pavements in areas such as Moulali and Ballygunge Phari are resorting to shifting locations and purchasing rechargeable fans to cope with the heat.

A survey conducted in 2018, following a Supreme Court order, revealed that Calcutta had 7,272 homeless people. This number is likely to have increased since the outbreak of Covid-19, which has forced many to move to the city in search of work after losing their livelihoods.

Asida Khatun, an 18-year-old who lives with her grandmother on a pavement near Moulali, shared their daily struggle. “It is impossible to stay inside our hut once the sun appears. We move to the pavement across the road and stay there as long as there is shade,” she said. Asida, who quit school after the pandemic, is now looking for a job as a house help.

In Ballygunge Phari, Mina Karmakar and her husband had to buy a battery-run fan for their infant daughter. “We can bear with this heat but I worry about my daughter. She needs a little bit of comfort. She cannot sleep in this heat,” Mina said. The fan, which runs for three hours, needs recharging at a nearby mobile repairing shop for Rs 10 each time.

The families living on these pavements are also adjusting their cooking schedules to avoid the heat of burning biomass twice a day. “We are cooking only at night. We pour water on rice and eat panta bhaat for lunch the next day,” said another woman.

While some of the pavement-dwellers bathe in the open with water collected from municipal taps, others, especially women, prefer paying and bathing in a closed enclosure.

Calcutta has been experiencing above-normal temperatures for at least the past fortnight. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that such long and extreme heat conditions will recur as the world continues to warm.

Sai Rama Raju M, a senior associate at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bengaluru, highlighted that the actual temperature experienced by the homeless could be even higher than what the weather stations record. “Those living in a part of the city that has less green cover and more concrete and road infrastructure will experience more temperature as concrete absorbs heat,” he said.

Continuous exposure to high temperatures makes the homeless more vulnerable to heat-related ailments and mortality. This vulnerability extends to those working at construction sites, parking attendants, and hawkers as well.