Amid a continuing energy crisis, daily wage workers in parts of Delhi say they are struggling to afford cooking fuel, with many turning to firewood and cow dung cakes to get through the month.
At a busy labour junction in Tughlakabad Extension, in south-east Delhi, workers gather each day in the scorching heat, hoping to find work. But many say jobs have dried up, even as the cost of living continues to rise.
Jameel, a worker from Auraiya district in Uttar Pradesh, said the situation had worsened sharply in recent weeks. He lives in Street No. 26 in Tughlakabad Extension. “Sir, what can I say about the situation? Just today a worker died. His name was Raja. He was hungry and had no work. He fell ill and died,” he said.
Jameel added that he had sent his wife and children back to his village due to the rising cost of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders and was now considering leaving Delhi himself.
Rising costs and falling incomes
Another worker, Ram Singh, who came to Delhi from Gonda district in Uttar Pradesh as a 14-year-old, said the crisis had left him with little hope. There’s nothing left for me in the village anymore; if there were, I would have gone back, he said.
“Here, sometimes work stops due to pollution, sometimes due to the pandemic, and now the Iran-US war has created this situation. I am neither getting work nor seeing any hope,” he said.
He pointed to rising prices of everyday items. “A samosa that cost Rs 5 is now Rs 15. We have gas at home, but due to black marketeering, a cylinder that cost Rs 800 is being sold for Rs 1,400.”
Chandan Singh, another labourer at the site, said the cost of refilling smaller gas cylinders of 3-4 kilogrammes had also surged. “Earlier it was around Rs 100 per kg, now it is Rs 300 to Rs 400,” he said.
In nearby Valmiki Mohalla, many residents have stopped going to work altogether. Workers say extreme heat, lack of employment and fuel shortages have worsened an already difficult situation.
Some also told Down To Earth about rising tensions within families, with financial stress affecting relationships at home. Disruptions in gas supply and the strain they’ve placed on daily life have heightened tensions among many working couples, with some relationships even ending in divorce. They claimed that these ongoing disruptions have unsettled family dynamics and, in some cases, left households fractured.