MP panchayats seal 200 villages to stop entry of migrant workers

Shruti Tomar and Anupam Pateriya

Panchayats in Madhya Pradesh have stopped the entry of outsiders and migrant workers into at least 200 villages for the past one week by sealing borders and setting up quarantine centres to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as 15-20% of fresh infections in the state were reported from rural areas, officials said.

The proportion of infections reported from villages has gone up by nearly four times as it was below 5% in September, according to the state rural development department’s data.

In order to curb the rising cases, panchayats have sealed several villages in Bundelkhand, Malwa and central regions as migrant workers began returning

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to their homes amid curfews and shutdowns imposed by several states and cities.

On Friday, Madhya Pradesh reported 12,400 cases and 97 deaths, taking the overall tally to 466,915 and 5,616, respectively. There are as many as 92,077 active cases in the state. The second wave has pushed daily infections above the 350,000-mark daily across the country.

As several returnees tested positive for Covid-19, panchayats made it mandatory for them to quarantine for 14 days across various centres set up by them before entering the villages. Officials said in Hoshangabad district alone, 130 villages were sealed for one month after a sharp surge in cases 10 days ago.

Shivram Katare, panchayat secretary in Hoshangabad’s Dongarwada village, said in some cases, the entire family was found to be infected in neighbouring villages.

“...as many as six people died of Covid 19. So, we have decided to seal the village and we are happy that no one has tested positive of Covid-19. The village has a population of over 2,000 people and many returned from the cities after the lockdown... they are at quarantine centres where we are providing food and other facilities,” Katare said.

Several village panchayats have formed vigilance committees to check the entry of outsiders.

“It is hard to seal the borders of a village... We have used bamboo and ropes to seal the village. We have also formed a vigilance team of 20 people to check the entry of people into the village,” Meshram Singh, a resident of Bari village in Chhatarpur district, said.

Dhani Ram Gupta, a social worker from Sagar district’s Kevlari Kalan village, said not only have they sealed the border but were also extending help to those infected.

“In our village, two youth returned from Sagar city and tested positive. We shifted them to a hospital and also provided all kinds of help to their families. The basic objective of doing this is to set an example for villagers that they should not be afraid if they develop any symptom. We will not discriminate against those who will test positive; we will take care of them,” Gupta said.

Hoshangabad collector Dhananjay Pratap Singh said teams that include auxiliary nurses were helping villagers in screening outsiders. “We will win this battle through community support, and we are happy that villagers are coming forward on their own,” he said.