Coronavirus lockdown: Many stranded in Delhi without means of sustenance

With road and rail traffic suspended due to a nationwide lockdown to combat coronavirus, many people, including migrant workers, are stranded in the national capital without any means of sustenance.

Among those stuck in Delhi without any work is Suresh Chaudhary.

"We have locked ourselves in a room as there is no work.... Our little savings are also drying. We don't know how long we can sustain ourselves, he said.

Chaudhary, who shares a room with five other workers, says, "I am stuck in a place which is worse than even jails. Even convicts in jail are getting better food, facilities than us. I am managing with whatever little money I have earned in the previous week."

Not just, Chaudhary, hundreds of migrants workers have been stranded in Delhi without any work or means for sustenance.

The lockdown, which came into force on Wednesday, has also hit people who need to return home for family urgency.

Dev Pal, a resident of Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh, said he came to the national capital couple of days ago to see his ailing uncle.

"My uncle was unwell and I came here in east Delhi's Seemapuri area on Sunday to see him. Now, I got a call from Badaun that my mother is sick. I came out of my uncle's house and have been waiting for a bus at Apsara Border till Anand Vihar for the past one hour. A couple of buses have passed, but no one is willing to stop. I have to go to Badaun somehow," Pal said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a complete lockdown of the entire country for 21 days in an unprecedented drastic measure to try halt the spread of coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases climbed to 649 in India on Thursday and the death toll rose to 13.