In photos: Delhi’s piercing cold threatens homeless people

When midnight approaches in New Delhi and a freezing fog settles over the Indian capital, thousands of homeless people spread torn mattresses and blankets on the pavements and lie on them to keep warm. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

On Sunday, New Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.5 degrees Celsius, with the weather forecasting agency warning of a severe cold wave from Monday. Here, a homeless woman sits by the entrance to the a dilapidated shelter for homeless people in New Delhi. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

The piercing chill is an ordeal for the city’s homeless, who curl their bodies on sidewalks and sleep as the traffic goes by. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Those who can’t afford the blankets spend the night around a smoldering fire built with garbage and discarded cardboard boxes. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

And some of them hunker down in a government shelter system. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this photo sewer water flows next to a shanty built in the compound of a dilapidated shelter for homeless people. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Even though the city’s night shelters are a refuge to many who would otherwise find themselves sleeping near busy roundabouts and underpasses, most people there live in harsh conditions. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Here, a homeless family gathers around a stove as they cook their evening meal in the compound of a dilapidated shelter. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

It’s a scene that repeats itself every year when New Delhi experiences a harsh bout of winter cold, blamed for killing scores of homeless people and leaving tens of thousands of others shivering on the streets. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)