NEW DELHI - As the sun faded to night, the silhouette under the bridge hovers at the fire. He had already burned sticks and plastic bottles and a bicycle tire when he added one of his shirts for consumption. He could easily scrounge for another tomorrow; right now he needed heat.
Other shadows move around him and the headlights of a passing car expose the mashed outlines of women, children, and stray dogs huddled for warmth. One woman moves toward the road, her hand cupped, arm extended, plea ignored.
Across New Delhi the same scene appears at intersections, overpasses, parks, bus stops, and sidewalks. A cold snap has dragged on for weeks as chilly days and frigid nights have conspired with winds from the icy Himalayas.
While India is better known for its brutal heat there is a time here called ‘winter' when temperatures dip. It is the sort of chill that greets you in the morning and loyally follows you through the day. The vast majority of houses, apartment blocks, and government buildings do not have central heating.
This year the seasonal adjustment is sharper and lasting longer. It is not a deep freeze by most standards but to the poor -- and there are many here -- the impact is measured less by degrees Celcius than in fatalities. More than 100 people have died of exposure.
The homeless are especially vulnerable as they are poorly dressed, malnourished, and ill-equipped to cope. Police and social workers have tried to steer the most needy to shelters but their numbers far outmatch capacity.
At one refuge in Old Delhi's chaotic Chandni Chowk district, Firoz Khan pushes through the ritual of signing in. At this hour the shelter is teeming with men cocooned in brown acrylic blankets. The place smells of smoke and filth and whiskey breath.
"It is by no means a home," he says of the shelter, "But there is no other option."
The man with the register asks his age. Thirty-eight, he says. Home state? Uttar Pradesh. Khan is a labourer who moved to New Delhi to find work though he rarely earns more than 100 rupees (about $2.00) a day. There are thousands like him who have felt lured from villages by the capital's prosperity yet are unable to afford even rudimentary shelter.
When the cold weather set in the city scrambled to open more shelters for the homeless. There are now 80 in one of the world's most populated cities.
Across northern India authorities are struggling to cope with the cold. They are sanctioning massive bonfires in Lucknow and closing schools from the capital to the states of Bihar and Rajasthan.
"Both day and night temperatures are around the same so people are feeling bad," according to B.P. Yadav, India's chief weather scientist. For the first time ever, Indian forecasters will begin quoting "wind chill" along with the temperature.
The cold is expected to ease slightly but the shift will usher thick fog. That is likely to create problems for travelers in the air and bring little respite to the streets.
