Udaipur : In a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus in rural areas, people from cities heading to their villages from Maharashtra cities are quarantining themselves in fields. People are putting up tents in open fields, sleeping on charpoys while they are cooking their food themselves out in open. Large number of people from urban areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat heading towards their hometowns have quarantined themselves outside villages for 14 days in this way.
“People have been trying to reach their villages by walking through fields or climbing over hillocks, and hence the risk of the pandemic reaching rural areas has increased and hence to keep their loved ones and villagers free of the virus, this approach has been adopted” Bhavesh Jat a local informed.
In Menar village, six men from Kandiwali (Mumbai) reached on May 7. Laxmanlal, Ambalal, Hukmichand, Deeplal Joshi were among the group which decided not to enter their homes before the quarantine period and hence chose an open field some 3 kilometers away from their village. ” We met our family from a distance and informed them about our well being. To keep our area safe from virus contamination we chose a place near a well and now we are staying here” Ambalal Menaria said.
A big tent has been put up and they have parked their car too here. They have arranged the grocery and vegetables for 14 days and are cooking for themselves. In Chargadiya village of Bhinder, Jitesh Choubisa who arrived from Mumbai has taken refuge in a corner of a cow shed, situated in a safe distance from his home. He has separated his utensils which he washes himself after having the food brought by his family members everyday.
Kamlesh Das Vaishnav who too returned to this village, worked in Rajkot and had to take a lift in a tanker to reach home. He walked some 150 kilometers from Kherwada to get back home and fearing that he might have contracted the virus, decided to stay outside the village limits for two weeks. Prakash Meena in Kundai panchayat of Bhinder block who reached Rajasthan border in a tanker had walked two days to reach his home and now is spending his quarantine period near a well outside his house compound. The quarantined people are being monitored by the government officials who visit them in regular intervals to check their health conditions.