It all started with a distress call Shanthi Singh Chauhan received in the wee hours of the March 27, 2020. The SOS call was from a friend Ajaya who said that more than 1,800 people were held up in various parts of the city due to the lock down and they had not eaten for the whole day. The friend also also told her that among the stranded lot were old people, kids and women, families of immigrant workers from Telengana.

"We were pleasantly surprised to learn that most of heavy duty lifting work in Mumbai is done by immigrant workers from Telangana, and now these workers were stranded because of the lockdown and they were trying to reach out to the Telengana government for support. We then took the situation in control with support of the Maharashtra government & International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and settled the matter by evening," said Shanthi S Chauhan.