{"id":21186,"date":"2026-05-04T10:42:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/?p=21186"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:42:10","slug":"walls-of-evidence-delhi-workers-use-art-to-demand-heat-justice-on-labour-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/india\/en\/press\/21186\/walls-of-evidence-delhi-workers-use-art-to-demand-heat-justice-on-labour-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Walls of Evidence: Delhi Workers Use Art to Demand Heat Justice on Labour Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On International Workers\u2019 Day, workers and artists come together to paint heat\u2019s hidden cost on Delhi\u2019s walls<\/em><\/h2>\n\n

New Delhi, 30 April 2026<\/strong> \u2014 Marking the  International Workers’ Day, three striking community murals in Sundar Nagri, East Delhi, tells the story of how extreme heat is reshaping the lives, bodies, and livelihoods of workers. Unveiled on International Labour Day, the murals are part of Greenpeace India\u2019s Delhi Rising campaign, demanding that heatwaves be formally recognised as a national  disaster, adequate funding for heat action plans, and for urgent implementation on the ground.<\/p>\n\n

The murals depict the intensity of heat and how it impacts outdoor labourers, home-based women workers, and children navigating deadly temperatures with minimum relief and protection. The murals also capture resourceful ways communities cope with extreme heat, their improvised cooling methods that make survival possible. It also reflects how heat extends into classrooms and childhood, affecting students\u2019 ability to learn and rest.<\/p>\n\n

Developed through a participatory process, the murals emerged from conversations between artists, residents and workers, where stories of exhaustion, fatigue, disrupted incomes and collective coping were shared and translated into visual form. What has emerged is more than art, it is a powerful assertion that workers are not merely affected by heat, but are actively navigating, adapting, and responding to its impacts.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThese murals are not just art, they are evidence,\u201d said Aakiz Farooq, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace India. \u201cCommunities are already living through a crisis that policy has yet to fully acknowledge. Recognising heatwaves as a national disaster is a necessary first step, but it must be backed by funding, planning, and real action that protects workers on the ground. Extreme heat is being manufactured by fossil fuel companies whose emissions are warming our planet. Workers are paying for that with their health and their livelihoods. Polluters must be held accountable. Heat must be declared a national disaster, and it must be funded as one,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n

Mohommad Zaheer, a Sundar Nagri resident\/worker who contributed to the murals said, \u201cHeat affects our bodies, our work, and our homes. It makes our body inactive, drained and impacts our  income. We are not able to sleep properly even at night as in recent years it feels too hot during night too. These walls now show our reality and the small ways we try to cope every day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Reflecting on the process, artists Harit Gulia, Shipra Rani, and Manmauji, along with his team members Ravi and Anurag Kumar, shared, \u201cThis was about listening and co-creating. Art became a way to translate lived experiences into something visible and undeniable. These murals carry stories of struggle, but also of strength and solidarity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

As Delhi faces increasingly intense and prolonged heat conditions, initiatives like this  aim to push the conversation towards accountability, with workers\u2019 safety at the center  . On May Day, workers in Sundar Nagri are using art to call for safer conditions, structural support, and urgent climate accountability.<\/p>\n\n

For media queries and high-resolution images, contact: 
Nibedita Saha
nibedita.saha@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n

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