No masks, sanitisers, villagers cover faces with towels, spend days watching TV

By Anand Singh

Noida, April 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Its 2 p.m. and the sun is shining bright in the sky with the temperature soaring at 35 degrees Celsius. And the villagers of the Khoda Khurd in Gautam Buddha Nagar district are finding it difficult to stay at home as there is no power supply for last three hours.

Some of the elders in the village have gathered at the porch of Ankit Khari to discuss the issues of farming and cultivation of the next crop.

Sitting in the porch, the villagers have covered their faces with towels and are maintaining social distancing to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.

Speaking to IANS, Devender Singh Khari said, "The children and young boys of our villages who go to the city have face masks with them. But we don't have any face mask and we keep our faces covered with towels."

He further said that as there is no hand sanitiser at his home, but family members ensure to clean their hands with soap at regular intervals throughout the day.

Another villager Rajinder Singh complained of the condition of electricity supply and said that power supply is good during the night. "But during the day, it is hardly available for few hours," he said.

"When electricity supply is there, we prefer to watch television. But when there is no power supply we sit in the porch and interact with our neighbours," he said.

When asked about the impact of lockdown in the village, he said, "Till now our village is Covid-19 free. Thus as a precaution we are ensuring to take all possible steps to keep it away."

He said, the elders of the village have met four to five times in last one month to discuss ways to combat the spread of Covid-19.

He said the people have been asked to remain vigilant during the lockdown and have also been asked to inform the authorities if anyone has symptoms of the virus.

To a question on what steps they have taken to keep the children inside the homes, he said, "In the beginning, the villagers asked the parents to keep their children inside. And if anyone is found playing in the streets, then their parents are informed and warned."

He said that the parents are warned to keep their children inside or else police will be informed on its helpline number 112.

Asked about the studies of the children in the village, he said, "The schools are shut since lockdown was announced. So we ourselves teach them at home."

So far, 103 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Gautam Buddh Nagar, out of which 54 people have recovered and returned home while 49 infected cases are undergoing treatment in hospitals.

On Friday, the total number of Covid-19 cases in India rose to 23,452 with 723 people losing their lives to the pandemic and 4,813 others being cured.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at anand.s@ians.in)

Source: IANS