COVID-19 lockdown: Thousands of drivers stranded without food or water at state borders

In fact, All India Motor Transport Congress, the apex body for motor transport operators, said this could be a "humanitarian crisis in the making". This was followed by a government notification to allow all stranded trucks to be given a one-time clearance pass.

While the government, over the past 24 hours, issued several instructions to clear the logjams at various checkpoints across the country, the situation on ground hasn't improved significantly.

The pictures tell the story. At various state-borders and check-points, thousands of parked trucks could be seen as far as eyes could see.

And, drivers were forcibly quarantined in these trucks without any arrangement for food or sanitation, as all ‘dhabas’ and hotels along the highways are shut, and a small number of grocers with provisions are reportedly selling goods at two-three times higher prices.

The All India Transporters Welfare Association and All India Motor Transport Congress have also reported a large number of instances of drivers abandoning their trucks -- carrying goods worth hundreds of thousands rupees-- on the highways.

"If the driver is getting on the highway to go to the grocers also, police are beating them up", Mahendra Arya, president, AITWA, told CNBC-TV18.

"The government directive says that drivers should be allowed to reach their destination, but how, that message hasn't reached the ground," he added.

"We are drivers, where do we go? We don't have homes, no arrangement for even drink water. Trains are not running either. I have my office here but that's also shut. I've driven this truck from Gujarat, where do I unload it and leave it," said a truck driver in a clip shared with CNBC-TV18 by AITWA.

Scared of police beating them up, drivers are also unwilling to go to work. "We are looking at a situation where there will not be enough drivers to even transport essential items," Ashok Goel, MD, BLR Logistiks, a Mumbai-based transportation company, told CNBC-TV18.