Inside a village still untouched by Covid
GUWAHATI: Life in Kawoimari Gohain Gaon in Assam’s Jorhat district hasn’t been idyllic since the pandemic hit India last year. Residents have barely stepped out of their houses, roads are blocked, and earnings dwindling. But unlike many other parts of the country, it hasn’t all been bad news.
The village located around 35km from Jorhat town in upper Assam hasn’t reported any case of Covid-19 yet. Officials say safety measures strictly enforced by villagers are responsible for the village posting zero infections.
Spread over around four square kilometres, residents of the village were originally from Nematighat close to the Brahmaputra river. But large-scale erosion of the river’s banks following the 1950 earthquake, a 8.6 magnitude temblor that killed roughly 5,000 people, forced residents to move to the new location and set up Kawoimari Gohain Gaon, which now has nearly 2,000 residents.
“Our village has around 400 families and a total population of nearly 2000. Though many others have recorded Covid-19 positive cases including deaths, we have managed to escape the virus till now,” said Madhurjya Kakati, secretary of Kawoimari Gohain Gaon’s village defence party (VDP).
Since the pandemic began last year, residents of the village have strictly complied with safety protocols such as social distancing, wearing face masks, and cleaning hands regularly with sanitiser and soap.
Village roads have been blockaded with bamboo sticks to prevent the entry of outsiders, banners and notices are pasted all over the village urging residents to follow safety measures, and each house keeps a bucket of water and soap at the gate to allow people to wash their hands before entering.
More than half of the residents of the village are engaged in cultivation while some are employed with government and private offices. Those who go out for their jobs or other work are required to follow all safety protocol before returning.
“We have a VDP of 25 people that includes five women. We take turns to guard the entry points of the village and also check for violations within. Those flouting rules would be liable for punishment or fine as fixed by the government. But thankfully we don’t see any violations by villagers,” said Kakati.
Though Assam government hasn’t declared a lockdown, the state has a daily 16-hour curfew from 1pm to 5am. There is also a ban on interdistrict movement. The measures will be in place till June 16.
“Life hasn’t been same since the pandemic began as we don’t get to move around or socialise with our friends and other fellow villagers, which was very common earlier. But we are happy that we haven’t recorded any positive case yet or lost anyone to the disease,” said Naresh Das, a teacher from the village.
“We have been following the safety measures properly. There was some laxity towards the end of last year and during the recent assembly election. But with the second wave of Covid19 striking the country, everyone became serious about safety again. Inspired by what we are doing, some neighbouring villages have also started enforcing Covid-19 protocols seriously,” he added.
Residents of the village said that vaccination against Covid-19 is yet to take off in full steam and only around 15% of those eligible have managed to get doses till now.
“Kawoimari Gohain Gaon hasn’t had any Covid19 positive case this year and there were no reports last year as well,” said Dr Rekha Hazarika, in-charge of Kakojan block primary health centre (BPHC) under which the village falls.
“We have been telling every village and residents to strictly follow the measures announced by the health department. It seems this village has been following them properly. It’s an example for others as well,” she said. Till Wednesday, Assam had recorded 442,694 cases and 3,738 deaths. While villages and tea gardens were largely unaffected during the first wave, there have been many Covid-19 cases and deaths in these areas in the second wave. In the past 10 days, Jorhat district recorded 1,455 cases.