After being cut off from the rest of the district for 45 days, residents of Jawaharpur village that was sealed after it became a hotspot of the coronavirus are demanding the restrictions be lifted as they are unable to buy essential supplies.
Some residents have complained that they have not been receiving ration for the last few days and are making do by borrowing from neighbours. Even vegetable vendors were not allowed, they said. They even held a protest in the village raising slogans against the administration on Thursday.
All 46 patients from the village have been discharged. In its 200-year-old history, the village has never borne such a brunt before where a virus has made it a no-go zone. The number of positive cases in the village account for 45% of the total 105 cases in the district.
On April 4, the village was declared a hotspots and containment zone and it was sealed. The administration had claimed that they would be providing food and ration at the doorsteps of the residents.
A resident, Gurpreet Singh, said, “It has become difficult to even get medicines and most of the time, we get it after a gap of four days. For the first time we have seen such restrictions in our village.”
{{/usCountry}}A resident, Gurpreet Singh, said, “It has become difficult to even get medicines and most of the time, we get it after a gap of four days. For the first time we have seen such restrictions in our village.”
{{/usCountry}}When contacted, sub-divisional magistrate of Dera Bassi Kuldeep Bawa said the allegations were false. “We have the list of the residents of the entire village and have provided them everything. Only issue is they want to step out of the village and we cannot allow this.”
The village located on the Ambala- Chandigarh highway has a population of around 3,000. With a special police force called Covid Commandos assisting health officials, sample testing continues to take place here.
One of the first persons to test positive on April 4 here was Malkit Singh and his cousin, the village sarpanch, who reportedly defied curfew norms to organise community meals and interact with the locals, because of which 46 villagers were infected.