Tragic scenes unfold in east UP, Bundelkhand villages
Concluding part of series looks at how lack of health services and testing facilities have led to fatalities in these two regions
The rural interiors of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, also known as the migrant zone, are witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases and fear among the people. The return of the migrant workers home since the beginning of April has led to the spike, experts and officials have said.
The lack of health services and testing facilities have led to an increase in deaths in the rural areas and resulted in heart-rending scenes.
JCB dug a pit and dumped her body
For instance, in Pratapgarh’s Kunda tehsil, the people were so fear-stricken that no villager came forward to lay the body of a woman to rest. They feared she had died of Covid-19 and they would get infected.
Later, locals used a JCB machine to dig a pit in front of the house and unceremoniously dumped the woman’s body in it and put mud over it. The video of the incident went viral on social media platforms. The woman Rajwanta (55), wife of the late Ram Sharan of Ugapur village of Kunda in Pratapgarh, died on April 28 morning. She lived alone. “Fearing that her death was because of the pandemic, the neighbours were also not ready to lend their shoulders to her body. In front of her house, a hole was dug using a JCB machine and the body wrapped in a piece of cloth was hurriedly thrown into the pit from above and covered,” said Akash Singh, a local and son of the village pradhan.
He claimed that a 35-year-old man Chandan and a 32-year-old man Hariksh aka Manik also died in the village recently following a bout of fever. They too were cremated hurriedly without any rituals.
Tehsildar (Kunda) Ramjanam Yadav confirmed the incident and dubbed it extremely unfortunate and inhuman.
“Fear of Covid-19 is so set in the minds of the locals that they are reluctant to ensure proper last rites for the dead,” he said.
Chief medical officer (Pratapgarh) Dr Arvind Srivastava said free of cost Covid-19 testing facilities, as well as vaccination, were available at all 17 community health centres (CHCs) and three primary health centres (PHC) located in the rural areas of the district.
“We also have surveillance teams that are active in the rural areas to test and detect Covid-19 cases on a day- to-day basis,” he added. The CMO said that a CHC was located just one kilometre from where the woman was allegedly cremated by locals.
Varanasi: No test, no Covid
Five people, who were suffering from fever and cold, died at Ramna village in Varanasi in a one-week span.
“In the village, they were not tested for Covid-19,” said Amit Patel, husband of Arti Patel, the head of Ramna village in Varanasi. Where is the transport to carry patients to the district headquarters, he asked.
He, however, said that the vaccination of people aged above the age of 45 years was being done at the primary health centre.
A resident of Ramna area said that his uncle, 75, suffered from fever on April 18. Initially, he consulted a local physician who gave him some medicines. However, he didn’t get any relief. He said that he heard that a team of the health department was doing Covid-19 testing of symptomatic people. But no team came. Thereafter, he admitted his uncle to a private hospital where his antigen test was done. His report was Covid-19 positive. He remained under treatment for over 10 days and died on Thursday (April 29) morning.
Additional chief medical officer (Varanasi) Dr SS Kanaujia said, “Five teams were deployed for tracking and testing in Ramna village that comes under the Kashi Vidhyapeeth block. In addition, a team each has been deployed for tracking and Covid-19 testing in the villages that are part of seven developmental blocks in Varanasi district.”
Ramna village has a population of around 20,000 and teams have been deployed for about a week.
Pharmacist Vidya Prakash Dubey, a member of Covid-19 team deployed in the Harahua area of Varanasi, said the team visited Bhatauli village and collected samples of around 40 people having symptoms like cough, cold and fever. Dubey also said that five people tested positive in another village in Harahua area.
Migrants and pilgrims
During the first Covid wave last year, few positive cases were reported in the rural areas but during the second wave 50% of the cases are from the villages. The situation has also led to an increase in deaths.
“The villagers often visit quacks in the rural areas for treatment. When their condition deteriorates, they are rushed to hospitals,” said a state health department officer who did not wish to be named.
“Along with the migrants, a large number of pilgrims who visited the Haridwar Kumbh also returned home and several of the pilgrims tested positive, besides violation of the Covid-19 protocol in panchayat elections added to the spike in cases,” he said.
Additional chief secretary (health and family welfare) Amit Mohan Prasad said the state government had ordered the migrant workers returning to Uttar Pradesh to remain in quarantine facilities in various districts. The village surveillance committees were activated to monitor the health condition of the migrants in the villages, he said.
Gorakhpur district magistrate K Vijyendra Pandian said a large number of migrants had returned home during Holi and stayed back after the festival.
Buffeted by disease
The situation is no different in Bundelkhand region from where large number of people migrate to various states in search of employment.
Jhansi district magistrate Andra Vamsi said that in order to check the spread of the Covid-19 infection in the rural areas after the return of the migrants, the surveillance committees in all the villages had been activated to monitor the health condition of the migrants.
They were directed to alert the health and district administration officers if any migrant had Covid symptoms, Vamsi said.