Asif Ahmed reached Delhi in March after her sister was referred to AIIMS for a bone marrow transplant from Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar, just days before the Janta Curfew was announced.
“We took the necessary appointments at AIIMS and were about to leave the city when the Janta Curfew was announced which was soon followed by the lockdown. Since then, we have been stuck in a rented accommodation with a cancer patient. All we want is to go back,” Ahmed told The Morning Standard.
Ahmed said he has approached the authorities but has not received any help yet. “We don’t know how long we can survive in this city. We just want to go back home,” he added.
People who had travelled to the national capital to seek medical treatment or visit family members studying in the city were suddenly left stranded when the country went into a lockdown on March 24. Thirty-three days later, these travellers continue to have a hard time managing resources and money to survive in a new city.
Vijay Sahay, a farmer from Panna district in Madhya Pradesh, came here with his 13-year-old son who has been diagnosed with blood cancer. The wait for treatment is endless. “I have been here since March 15. The doctors at AIIMS prescribed certain medicines but they are very expensive. Somebody told me that since I have a BPL card, I don’t have to bear the cost. I want to get my BPL card. But how do I go back?” he asked helplessly, looking at his ailing son,a Class 7 student who doesn’t know when he will go back to school.
Arifa Bhat (name changed), a young mother from Srinagar, had come to visit her sister, who is studying in city, but is now stuck here with her two-year-old baby. “I have exhausted all my energy and efforts to go back home but to no avail. My ticket was booked on April 30. My sister is here to help me but my son is not accustomed to this weather. Staying indoors is becoming a challenge for us,” Bhat said.
Students suffer
Hundreds of students from different states who study in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University are stranded inside hostels as well as in rented accommodations.
Even though the state government had asked landlords to wave off the rent during the lockdown, students are facing financial crunch.Gyaan Vikash from Delhi School of Economics missed a train to his hometown in Bihar, a day before the lockdown was announced.
“I tried to leave the city but had no means to do so. There are many other students stuck here with me. Our landlord has not asked for rents from two months but getting food and other essential services is becoming a challenge,” Gyaan said.A student of Delhi University, Abhishek Yadav from Prayagraj is living in a rented accommodation near University Enclave.
“We didn’t even have food when the lockdown began and had little money. After a few days, our teachers helped us buy basic essentials and food items which we have rationed for the days to come. I am waiting for the lockdown to be lifted,” Yadav added.
Around 11 students who had come to prepare and appear for entrance exams In Delhi area also stuck in the city, having to lodge with four to five people in a single room. “We are cooped up like chickens and worried about contracting the virus in such conditions,” one of them said.
Alakh Ranjan, a former student of Jamia who is working with a think tank in Delhi, was unable to go home before the lockdown. “A day before lockdown was announced, I had planned to leave for my home in Bihar but I decided to wait for my flatmates to return from their homes. Now I am stuck in my flat alone. The isolation is taking a mental toll on me. My productivity is suffering and with each passing day, it becomes harder for me to focus on my work. I try to work out to keep my body active but being all alone and away from home is becoming stressful for me,” he added.
No work or money
Daily wage workers or people from lower income groups who had come to the city to work are also left with little to no resources. Hasan Khan, a DU student from Bundelkhand is stranded in the capital with his brother and parents.
“After I came to study in Delhi University, my father found work at a shop nearby and my brother got a job too, but now with everything shut down we are facing financial troubles. We do not know how long we can manage to live here like this,” he said.
A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Etah, Ashu Yadav is a truck driver in Ghaziabad’s Koshambi. “I have been trying to keep in touch with my family over the phone. Food is being provided to us but we are told that till the lockdown is in effect, we will have to wait here with our trucks,” Yadav said. Amit Shah, a local vendor who sells kachori outside the north campus of DU, is stuck with his two children and wife in the city with hardly any means to support his family.
No way back home
Fearing long term isolation and monetary challenges, some people have also tried to take a desperate trips to return home but to no avail.Working in Delhi for the past four years, Shahabudin from UP tried to return home on his bike but was turned back by Uttar Pradesh Police. “I had requested my landlord to give me some time to pay my rent but he refused. My salary was also cut. After failing to go home, I went to live with my cousin in who is also struggling to survive in these troubling times but I have no other option,” he said.