New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a three-week national lockdown on Tuesday to limit the spread of the coronavirus, sections of the poor and marginalised in the national capital were left distressed. Most of them were daily wage labourers working with construction companies who had no mode of livelihood left in Delhi and its neighbouring areas.
With the nationwide lockdown, industrial machinery has ground to a halt. Exhausted, and with the little cash they have, several workers have no choice but to walk home to their villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Families, carrying water and a little food in the soaring heat, are walking on highways to get home.
The first day of the national lockdown brought a jolt of panic into the lives of many. Although the number of cases that have tested positive for the coronavirus is growing each day, the government has not put in place a safety net for the poor who are now facing uncertainty.
A fruit seller on the empty roads of Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A family of labourers, out of money, is walking to its village in Bulandshahr. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A mosque is closed but prayers are taking place at prescheduled times. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A policeman is on duty with little or no occurrences in the city. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A welding man from a construction company is out of work and spending time in his camp in Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
All ASI buildings have been shut down. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
An ox cart carrying essential food materials. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A locality in Noida Sector 121 screens all residents and nonresidents with thermal meter. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Apartments in Noida sector 121 have drawn circles so as to create distance between people at a ration queue. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Apartments in Noida sector 121 draw circles as to create a gap between people at a ration queue. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Closed Firoz Shah Kotla monument. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Essential service of food items on an ox cart. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Daily wage labourers, now out of work, are walking back to their villages which are at least 200 km away. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
People going to Motihari in Bihar as they have no money to survive on for the next 21 days of lockdown. They say they may take 10 days to reach but cannott stay in Delhi any more. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Petrol supply is limited but petrol pumps are open in Delhi to cater for vehicles. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
The taps at a mosque in ITO are helping some people quench their thirst. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A gas vendor walks five kilometres to each house to ensure regular supply. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Connaught Place in New Delhi without any traffic. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A lone rider on a deserted road in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
UP police have identified a separate lane for the media personnel and doctors. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A lone guard at the South Extention shopping area where all shops and businesses are closed. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A lone woman ragpicker walks on the Delhi Noida Direct flyway on the day of the Jamta Curfew. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A man crosses the empty National Highway 24. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A patient waits outside a bus stop as the OPD at Safdarjung is shut. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Ambulances parked at Safdarjung hospital. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
An ambulance rushes on NH24. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Business shut in South Extention Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Children playing when traffic and businesses are shut. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Commuters in CP on their way to the New Delhi station. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A DTC bus in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Construction work at Pragati Maidan is suspended. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A hoarding for the campaign against coronavirus. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
A delivery man at work in Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Youngsters play cricket in CP. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Delhi Police helping commuters sanitise their hands. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
DTC bus driver, conductor and marshal in masks. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
DTC buses in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Workers in essential services on their way to Noida. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Families of patients outside the Safdarjung hospital. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Great India Mall in Noida has been shut indefinitely in Noida as business suffers. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Empty roads at ITO. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Lodhi road. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Mathura Road. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Near AIIMS. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Noida Sector 121. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
People walk home with their luggage from Nizamuddin station. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
Swiggy workers waiting outside restaurants in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire
UP police enquires details from travellers. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire