At least four people have died in Maharashtra because of the COVID-19 virus
As the "total lockdown" announced this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus enters its third day, tragic tales of stranded migrant workers scrambling to return home despite no money, food or functioning public transport keep coming.
Near the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai's Kurla suburb, two men - one from Bihar and the other from Delhi - squat on the pavement near a now-deserted main road leading to the station. Both claim to be victims of robberies and say they are waiting by the roadside for the government to help.
They stole my money, my passport... it was all in a bag with 10-15 biscuits. They've stolen my bag. What do I do now?" Ansari, who used to work with a courier company, told NDTV.
"I only have my Aadhaar and PAN card... everything else I have lost. I sleep on the streets, get food when someone from the public feels like feeding us. The government has done nothing to help," he said.
Across India more than 700 people have been infected by the COVID-19 virus and at least 17 people have been killed. In Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit states in the country, there are 130 active cases and four people have died.
Earlier this week Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray imposed a state-wide curfew to halt the spread of the virus and enforced Section 144 to ban large gatherings; both measures came a day before the PM's "total lockdown".
As a result of the lockdown and curfew, thousands of migrant labourers have been left stranded. They have no job, shelter or food and cannot go back to their states because public transport - like the Railways - have been shut.
"I wanted to go to Delhi. I also lost my purse. It had around Rs 3,000, my mobile phone and my ID. One day, at 4 am, some people came with knives and took it away. I don't have anything now," another stranded person told NDTV, adding that he worked as a painter in a studio and earned a daily wage.
Migrant workers wait outside railway and bus stations hoping, waiting for a ride home
"I get food sometimes when they (volunteers from the Muslim Samaj) come. Sometimes the public will give us biscuits or water. I don't know who is a government worker or not," he said, noting that a complaint to the police resulted in him, and other stranded migrants, being chased away.
Closer to the station the stories are the same. Near the railway tracks a large group of men and women, some of whom worked at platform canteens, stand and wait for a train home.
They stand silently, a few feet from each other as ordered by the police, and say they too have no money and no hope of getting home. They are fed by volunteers but the supply of food and water is erratic.
On Thursday the plight of migrant workers in Maharashtra was further exposed, after cops found over 300 people crammed into a shipping container that was supposed to be carrying goods to Rajasthan.
Similar stories have emerged from Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country, leading to frantic calls by civil society activists and opposition leaders for the centre and state governments to help.
On Thursday the Chief Ministers of three states - Bengal, Bihar and Odisha - called on their counterparts to ensure the safety of labourers from these states stranded in others. All three leaders promised that they would bear the expenses and were happy to reciprocate the aid.
The centre, which has been criticised for being slow to react to the economic impact of the viral outbreak and the lockdown, has unveiled a Rs 1.75 lakh crore package that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman said would ensure that "no one will go hungry".
The plan provides for cash transfer and free rations to the poor and migrant workers, but makes no mention of allowing them to return home.