‘In a hot oven’: India heatwaves take a toll on most vulnerable

A boy bathes outside his home on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India [File: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters]

Recurring heatwaves in India’s capital New Delhi have taken their toll on construction worker Mamta as she labours and sweats through a gruelling 12-hour work day.

“In the afternoon, the situation is terrible. You feel like you are in a hot oven,” Mamta told Al Jazeera from her work site in Delhi’s Chhatarpur area. “It is very difficult to work in such heat … but my family depends on my earnings.”