As India locks down 1.3 billion people, AP follows the struggle of some of the country’s poorest to survive.
“There is a strange stillness in our neighborhood since all this started,” said Rajesh Dhaikar.
When he can, Deepak slips outside to play cricket with friends. They scatter when the police come by, then return to their match a few minutes later. So Arif bought a Hero Ranger bicycle with fading purple paint from a fellow guard for about $8, and set off the next morning with the equivalent of $12 in his pocket and a small rucksack with clothes, a loaf of bread and a water bottle.“What choice do I have?” Arif said in a phone call at the end of his first day, when he still had more than 2,000 kilometers to go. “He has no one else.”
He sleeps near gas stations, because they are well lit, or at closed roadside restaurants. Sometimes, he stops when he simply can go no further. Because they weren’t registered in the village, they were not eligible for the food rations that local officials were occasionally distributing for the poor. They are surviving on handouts from family of flour and rice, and a few dollars her husband earned working as a laborer for a couple of days.
Mina Jakhawadiya was worried. The family was hungry, though aid groups were distributing enough food every few days to keep the worst hunger at bay. “The lockdown was not the right decision,” grumbled Deepak, whose friends no longer came out to play cricket. “The rich can survive even if the lockdown stretches for a year, but what will the poor do?
Across the country, small towns and villages had started closing themselves off, trying to keep the virus away. In New Delhi alone, 23 such hot spots were ordered sealed on April 8. But in Deepak’s neighborhood, social distancing still seemed impossible.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
OneRepublic Drop Hopeful 'Better Days' VideoWatch the uplifting video for OneRepublic’s for BetterDays below
Read more »
India must not become the next coronavirus epicenter, World Bank says'Under no circumstances can the world, the region, or India, allow an epicenter to emerge in India,' said the World Bank's country director for India, Junaid Ahmad.
Read more »
Coronavirus could erode global fight against other diseasesTuberculous patients are getting turned away from hospitals. Vaccinations are grinding to a halt. With the focus on COVID-19, experts fear losing ground against other infectious diseases. By aniruddhg1 and thevmilko.
Read more »
Coronavirus could erode global fight against other diseasesDoctors fear the focus on the coronavirus could harm efforts to combat other diseases. Resources to fight illnesses like tuberculosis, HIV and cholera that kill millions each year could be depleted by the pandemic's toll on hospitals, workers and supplies.
Read more »
PHOTOS: Life in Sweden, one of few European countries not locked down - Business InsiderSwedes are sipping cocktails at cafes while citizens of France and Italy face jail time if they leave the house for the wrong reason under lockdown.
Read more »
Your questions on the lockdown and U.S. small business, answeredWhat can small businesses do now if they are strapped for cash? Here's how experts answered questions in today's Twitter chat about the pandemic's effect on small business
Read more »