New Delhi: She is a homeless widow , a mother of three who is five months pregnant and suffering from chikungunya. Yet 28-year-old Shanti Mohan, rejects any suggestion to shift from her makeshift shelter below the Mayur Vihar Phase 1 flyover to a government-run home.
"Fighting Chikungunya during pregnancy is very tough," says Shanti. But I avoid the shelter homes as it's often extremely crowded and there have been lots of people suffering from fever checking-in there. Hence I decided to stay here for a while and recover."
On being asked to visit a government hospital, she says, "It's not better than these shelter homes. We are hardly given any attention, especially when we don't even have enough money to travel to these clinics or hospitals."
While the NGT slammed the Delhi Government for their "shameful and shocking response" to the severe outbreak of Dengue and Chikungunya, the ones who have been left completely ignored are the homeless and migrant labourers of Delhi who have no option but to continue living with the fever, until their pain fades away with either death or recovery.
At a night shelter near the Chilla Gaon District Centre, the managing head Mr. Vinay Stephens denied the presence of any Dengue or Chikungunya cases but homeless families living in the nearby areas and Patparganj had a different tale to tell.
Even some of the night shelters managers complained of civic apathy to this epidemic affecting the homeless.
Simrat Kapoor, manager of Ran Basera, a night shelter for the Homeless near Chhota Bazaar Kashmere Gate, says, "Alka Lamba, the AAP local councilor had visited us during the last election but we never saw her after that."
Dinesh Ranjan hails from MP and has taken refuge in the homeless shelter since the past two months. He has been suffering from chikungunya since a month.
"The NGO directed me to Aruna Asif Ali Government Hospital, but I was turned away after being diagnosed with chikungunya. They refused to admit a homeless person without a guardian."
To this, the in-charge said, "They are bound to take care of a patient. But if he dies, then we can have him cremated, but if he continues to stay in the shelter then others would be infected as well. We have over 100 people here at night fighting for space."
However when the Medical Superintendent of Aruna Asif Ali Government Hospital was contacted, he refused to comment on the same.
The National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) has recorded the number for chikungunya affected people at 1,724 till September 11.
Although hospitals across the city have recorded at least 15 deaths due to the epidemic but the civic bodies haven't updated the toll from zero.
However, while estimating the affected individuals, the fact that homeless and migrants even form a part of this periphery remains questionable.
Around 30 kilometers away from hustle and bustle of AIIMS, lies the Badli Industrial Area. Marked with a number of factories producing steel rods to bakery items, the area has over 2,000 migrant labourers from all over India.
With limited housing options, they either reside at the nearby Badli village or rent small rooms where several of them jostle in to save money.
Workers complain of a severe outbreak of Dengue and chikungunya epidemic in the area which has been completely ignored by the government officials.
Nagma Begum, 29, a daily wage laborer from Allahabad resides at the nearby Badli Village. She echoes a common complain of the lack of medical facilities in the village.
"We hardly have any decent medical facilities. There are only small Jhola-Chhaap doctors who usually diagnose even a normal fever as chikungunya. In this entire village, each house has a minimum of two members suffering from chikungunya or Dengue," says Begum.
However officials looked flummoxed when countered with such complains. Ms. Mamta Rathore, local councilor for Samaypur Badli refuted such claims.
"These are mere allegations. I make sure to upload the pictures of fogging being done over the social media daily. It's a large area; the industrial area does not come under my jurisdiction," claimed Rathore.
However, social media perusal did not yield any such pictures nor the Badli Industrial Area could be segregated from her designated jurisdiction.
Even contractors and labour managers are dealing with large scale absences from work due to the outbreak of the epidemic.
Ram Bhajan, 36, is the head of the workers at an under-construction factory near the industrial area.
"There have been at least eight of my labourers who have taken leaves due to chikungunya. Most of them are there in their rooms unable to afford medication at the nearest private nursing home," says Bhajan.
Although Mr. Satyendar Jain, Delhi Health Minister was unavailable for comment, the Delhi health department officials were ready to implement fogging in the affected areas within an hour of complains being lodged from News18.
Dr Sunil Raheja, Nodal Officer of Delhi Health & Family Welfare Department insisted that it was a failure on the part of MCD.
"The entire responsibility lies with the MCD and we can only help them. But we will try our best to address these issues with immediate effect. Just notify the area to us," says Raheja.
Factory workers usually settle in for the nearest private nursing home and ends up spending most of their monthly income.
Manoj Jha, 40, a worker from Gaya, Bihar at the DM Chemicals unit at the Badli Industrial Area rues about being an outsider in Delhi.
"We are not residents of Delhi; hence we face a lot of problems in obtaining the medicines from some government outlets. My wife and both my children are suffering from chikungunya. I earn 8,000 a month but have spent around 12,000 rupees in treating my family members," says Jha.
Ms. Paramjeet Kaur, head of the Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan NGO, related the growing menace to a disconnect between the welfare organizations and the government.
"NGO's can extend their services anytime but other stakeholders must come on board too."
While agreeing to the fact that migrant labourers and homeless are more susceptible to an epidemic considering they live in precarious conditions, she says, "Even the civil society has a responsibility towards them, it does not end with making a call to the NGO and reporting about a homeless family on the roads. One must follow up."
Workers at Mayapuri Industrial Area and Wazirpur Industrial Area were not even aware of what fumigation was.
Faizan, a worker from Madhubani in Bihar works at a Metal ware company at the Wazirpur Industrial Area.
He says, "Leave fogging, even the nullah outside our homes is not cleaned properly, which leads to a lot of mosquito breeding."
Some workers and their families complained of not possessing an Aadhar card as an impediment to secure larvae killing chemicals from the government officials at both Badli and Mayapuri.
Mohan Kumar, 24, from Assam has been bed-ridden for the past two weeks and has not been able to report for work at the factory.
He says, "The officials did not budge even after we produced electricity bills."
But dismissing such complains as mere 'communication gaps', the Mayor of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), North, said, "We try to conduct fumigation every day, but since the areas are big, we often end up covering only 40 to 50 houses, and miss out on the interior lanes. But the need for the Aadhar card is completely uncalled for and we will look into it."
Workers who often find it difficult to approach private clinics settle in for the local doctors. Dr. Atul Sharma of Dr. Atul's Clinic at Samaypur Badli says there has been a huge increase in the number of patients suffering from chikungunya.
"Even though the problem is acute, I haven’t seen any fogging being done by the Delhi government till now."