Saurabh Bharadwaj inspects night-shelters to check heat arrangements

New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) Delhi Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj Monday conducted a surprise inspection at several night shelters in the city to take stock of arrangements in view of the scorching heat.

He directed officials to ensure facilities are ramped up to tackle the heatwave conditions the city has been reeling under for the past several days.

In a social media post on X, Bharadwaj claimed that he found during the inspection that the shelter homes were equipped with air coolers and cold water dispensers.

He instructed Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSEB) CEO Manish Kumar Gupta to check arrangements at all night shelters and ensure these facilities are made available at all shelters.

"Today at around 3 pm, I did a surprise inspection of several night shelters. Although cold air coolers and cold water dispensers were running at these places, I have instructed the CEO to ensure that the department makes these facilities available at all places," the minister said in a post in Hindi, sharing photos from his inspection.

Bharadwaj conducted the surprise inspection alone to check the arrangements at these places, the party said in a statement released later.

"In the night shelters where I conducted the surprise inspection, I saw adequate arrangements of water dispensers to provide cold drinking water to people and water air coolers for cold air. The night shelters have been built at several places across Delhi, so as a precaution, I have issued instructions to the CEO of the DUSIB that he should inspect all the night shelters of Delhi on a war footing and wherever any deficiency is found in the system, it should be rectified immediately.

"Arrangements must be made immediately wherever any deficiency is found in the water arrangement or supply of cold water. And wherever a problem with the air cooler is noticed, that problem should be resolved immediately," the statement quoted him as saying.

Delhi has been reeling under heatwave conditions for the past several days, with temperatures touching 50 degrees Celsius on some days. PTI SJJ SJJ TIR TIR