As a biting winter chill tightened its grip on the capital, the Delhi government on Thursday moved to expand night shelter facilities around AIIMS–Safdarjung and GB Pant Hospital, stepping up late-night rescue drives to move homeless people off the streets.
Officials said bed capacity in the hospital zones has been increased to 350, with additional temporary shelters set up in nearby subway areas where many homeless people take refuge during cold nights.
Teams from the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and shelter operators have been carrying out midnight patrols, picking up people found sleeping in the open and shifting them to night shelters. These checks are being conducted between 10 pm and 4 am, a time when temperatures dip the most.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the measures are part of the Winter Action Plan 2025-26, under which 250 temporary 'pagoda' shelters have been set up in high-footfall and vulnerable locations across Delhi. "At present, 197 permanent night shelters are operating across the city on a 24×7 basis," she said.
Around AIIMS-Safdarjung, three new pagoda shelters have been added to the existing 32, raising capacity from 320 to 350 beds. Officials said the area sees a steady flow of homeless people, including patients' attendants and daily-wage workers.
With subway corridors emerging as cold-weather shelters of last resort, the government has also begun placing temporary bedding and blankets in these spaces. During a special rescue drive, around 75 homeless people were moved from the AIIMS-Safdarjung stretch to night shelters, after which the area was cleared of people sleeping in the open.
Near GB Pant Hospital, eight temporary pagoda shelters have been set up, creating space for about 80 people, officials said. A round-the-clock control room is coordinating rescue calls and monitoring shelter capacity across the city.
As cold wave conditions continue, officials indicated that night patrols and shelter expansion will remain in place, with a focus on hospital zones and other high-risk areas where exposure to cold can quickly turn life-threatening.
