'Heat strokes are part of the job': In Delhi, construction workers endure 43°C heat
Construction workers in Delhi are enduring extreme heat conditions, with temperatures reaching 43°C. Many workers, including young men and women, are experiencing heat-related illnesses while trying to complete their tasks. Despite the risks, they continue to work under harsh conditions, often relying on basic remedies to cope with heat strokes.
- ▪Temperatures in Delhi reached 43°C, impacting construction workers significantly.
- ▪Workers report symptoms like headaches, fever, and vomiting due to the heat.
- ▪Many laborers come from impoverished backgrounds and earn only a few hundred rupees per day.
Le Monde (EN) publishes from France and files mainly under world. We currently carry 342 of its stories.
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A man sleeps on a used engine beneath a tree in a petrol pump repair workshop along a roadside in the old quarter of Delhi, India, on May 12, 2026. ADNAN ABIDI/REUTERS Even as the thermometer read 43°C on Monday, May 18, Massum Gairulla, a construction worker, carried on as best he could at the site in India's capital. Despite the oppressive heat, about 30 workers toiled away at this upscale neighborhood building in southern Delhi. Here, a frail young man sweated profusely as he shakily stacked a pile of bricks balanced on his head. There, a mason coated a wall with cement. "My whole body aches. I have to take a break every thirty minutes just to get through the day," explained Gairulla, who is barely 21 years old. To cope, he drank four to six liters of water every day.
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