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 WireA family of labourers, out of money, is walking to its village in Bulandshahr. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA mosque is closed but prayers are taking place at prescheduled times. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA policeman is on duty with little or no occurrences in the city. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA welding man from a construction company is out of work and spending time in his camp in Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireAll ASI buildings have been shut down. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireAn ox cart carrying essential food materials. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA locality in Noida Sector 121 screens all residents and nonresidents with thermal meter. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireApartments in Noida sector 121 have drawn circles so as to create distance between people at a ration queue. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireApartments in Noida sector 121 draw circles as to create a gap between people at a ration queue. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireClosed Firoz Shah Kotla monument. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireEssential service of food items on an ox cart. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireDaily wage labourers, now out of work, are walking back to their villages which are at least 200 km away. Photo: Shome Basu/The WirePeople 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 WirePetrol supply is limited but petrol pumps are open in Delhi to cater for vehicles. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireThe taps at a mosque in ITO are helping some people quench their thirst. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA gas vendor walks five kilometres to each house to ensure regular supply. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireConnaught Place in New Delhi without any traffic. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA lone rider on a deserted road in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireUP police have identified a separate lane for the media personnel and doctors. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA lone guard at the South Extention shopping area where all shops and businesses are closed. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA lone woman ragpicker walks on the Delhi Noida Direct flyway on the day of the Jamta Curfew. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA man crosses the empty National Highway 24. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireConnaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA patient waits outside a bus stop as the OPD at Safdarjung is shut. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireAmbulances parked at Safdarjung hospital. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireAn ambulance rushes on NH24. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireBusiness shut in South Extention Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireChildren playing when traffic and businesses are shut. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireCommuters in CP on their way to the New Delhi station. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA DTC bus in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireConnaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireConstruction work at Pragati Maidan is suspended. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA hoarding for the campaign against coronavirus. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireA delivery man at work in Delhi. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireConnaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireConnaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireYoungsters play cricket in CP. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireDelhi Police helping commuters sanitise their hands. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireDTC bus driver, conductor and marshal in masks. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireDTC buses in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireWorkers in essential services on their way to Noida. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireFamilies of patients outside the Safdarjung hospital. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireGreat India Mall in Noida has been shut indefinitely in Noida as business suffers. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireEmpty roads at ITO. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireLodhi road. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireMathura Road. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireNear AIIMS. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireNoida Sector 121. Photo: Shome Basu/The WirePeople walk home with their luggage from Nizamuddin station. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireSwiggy workers waiting outside restaurants in Connaught Place. Photo: Shome Basu/The WireUP police enquires details from travellers. Photo: Shome Basu/The Wire