Of heat, floods and lives on the edge

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₹4,000 is all that the family can afford. “My priority is to educate my children," says Srivastava, and the number of days that she does not switch on her sewing machine are few. But the rising mercury has been distressing.

“During the summer, I feel restless and my head reels. The heat is unbearable. I cannot sit for long and work during such heat.

I have to take frequent breaks. Sometimes, I also get a fever and feel nauseous. I then have to bear more medical expenses." About 13 km away, 37-year-old Tarannum Banu endures the same suffering, spending sleepless nights as the delivery date of her third child nears.

A home-based garment worker, Banu was in her eighth month of pregnancy when this reporter met her in July, and still scrambling to make ends meet for her family of four. The pregnancy, mounting living costs, as well as a medical emergency that translated into loss of two months’ work, have left the family in debt. As Banu tried to pick up more work sewing salwar kurta sets, the heat in May slowed her down, with the asbestos roof over her home turning it into an oven.

“The room heats up so severely that it becomes unbearable for me to sit here. I sometimes work till midnight in the summer as I cannot work during the day. I also have a thyroid problem, which makes me feel exhausted," says Banu sitting on the floor, her legs stretched out.

The tribulations faced by Srivastava and Banu are a familiar script playing out in the homes of millions of home-based women workers across India. While these largely invisible workers are critical to the supply chain and the economy, multiple studies have shown that the climate crisis has a direct impact on them, with little being done to address their issues. This year, for