15 villages of Bastar’s Dantewada remain unaffected from Covid-19

Officials claimed that after the villagers locked their villages and quarantined residents who came from other states.

Owing to awareness among the tribals and other preventive measures, fifteen villages of Bastar’s Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh have remained unaffected by Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic last year, officials said.

15 villages of Bastar’s Dantewada remain unaffected from Covid-19

Officials claimed that after the villagers locked their villages and also quarantined residents who came from other states to contain the spread of the virus. This is how the villagers have been operating ever since the pandemic started last year, they said.

“After the Covid-19 started in March last year, the first thing we did was lock our village and there was no entry for outsiders. Secondly, if a village resident returned from other states, we quarantined him/her outside the village. Thirdly, we spread awareness among the villagers not to come in contact with any outsiders,” said sarpanch of Jaram village, Somru Ram Kawashi. Jaram was one of the fifteen villages which remain unaffected by the pandemic.

The other villages which remain unaffected from the pandemic include Khuchepal, Taneli, Mullare, Kutarem, Jihakorta, Koderipal, Munga, Narenar, ChoteGadam, Pratabgiri, Kidiriras, Phursampurkhurd, Vasanpur, Jaram and Pundari.

All these villagers are Maoist-affected and the population is between 300 to 1000.

The district administration also took various precautions with the help of villagers since the initial days of Covid-19.

“The villagers were made aware of signs and symptoms, mode of transmission of the disease and precautions to be taken during the pandemic. Also, people are made aware of the screening centre and treatment centre of Covid-19. Panchayat-wise teams are deployed to monitor and screen people for Covid-19 who come from outside the state and keep them in institutional quarantine. We ensured that the residents of these villages must get all essential items during the lockdown,” said Dantewada collector Deepak Soni.

Villagers believe that information given by the district administration regarding signs and symptoms, mode of transmission of the disease and other information helped them. Also, villagers helped other people of the village to spread awareness about the Covid-19 in their local language.

“In our village, with the help of others, we barred entry of outsiders and followed Covid-19 guidelines. Now, the vaccination has also started. We are proud that our villages remained unaffected from the pandemic,” said Dilip Bhogami, resident of Pundari village.

District officials said in these villages, active case surveillance is being conducted periodically and Covid-19 vaccines have been given to residents.

“The district administration has made arrangement and provided local employment to the villagers in their respective villages through various government schemes like MGNREGA, self-help groups, and Shaheed Mahendra Karma Tendupatta Sangrahak Samajik Suraksha Yojana,” said Soni.