Getting a handle on the rush on winter nights can be difficult, said caretakers of these shelters. Non-governmental organisations as well as the municipal corporation share among them the responsibility to run these shelters. Recently, the municipality’s Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta has announced that television sets will be put in all MCD night shelters to provide a few laughs.

As soon as the sun set on Friday, the shelter at Fountain in Chandni Chowk, run by NGO Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, began to come alive. The crowd outside swelled with the passing minute, men waiting patiently for their turn to get inside. People are allowed in till the shelter is full, organisers said. Those who are late have to spend the night elsewhere, possibly on a railway platform in this case.

Triloki Singh, 55, has managed his six feet on the first-floor dormitory here. The floor also has a television. Singh, who is from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, has spent nights here for the last three years. “We are given one blanket each for the night. It is not sufficient but the only option. This shelter also has bathroom facilities,” Singh said.

Ghaziabad’s Mahender, who spent last winter in this shelter, said the recent cold wave might have persuaded organisers not to charge anything for the last few days. Till recently, the fee to stay a night was Rs 6.

The shelter at Fatehpuri is also run by Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan. The building is owned by the MCD. Vikas from Kanpur comes here every night. He came to Delhi for a job after he wrote his school final examination. But that job has eluded him so far. He explained the few rules these shelters have laid down — no smoking, no drinking and certainly no brawls. Those who come drunk are turned away.