- Thursday, April 18, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Shubham Ghosh
INDIA of late has seen a devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc across its length and breadth but it is in its remote peaks that the disaster has hurt the most, thanks to lack of medical facilities, roads and information.
The situation has been so adverse for inhabitants of these places that factors like heavy rain and distance have also been big barriers. Even after developing fever-like symptoms, these people found little comfort only because even basic medical facilities are hard to find.
The Guardian reported about the pandemic-time reality in India’s high terrains where people have to depend on herbal concoctions to get relief because the nearest pharmacist is located far away and the frequency of routine vaccination drives at their residences is much less. It spoke about one Phalguni Devi in Pagna village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand in northern India who was shifted to the house’s cowshed by her family after she developed a fever following the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“My husband had intended to take me to the ANM [auxillary nurse-midwife] in the next village, but the midwife comes only once a month for routine vaccination for children and now for Covid vaccination. Other than that, we do not know what to do or how to get any treatment,” Devi, 51, told the news outlet.
Besides the lack of medical facilities, even lack of information plagues the residents of some of the most remote Indian villages. And information does not reach these areas easily because of the poor state of infrastructure. There are no proper roads and existence of only two partially-staffed healthcare centres for several villages like Pagna in the Nijmola Valley makes the area’s 16,000 inhabitants anxious about the deadly pandemic that has killed many in places that have far better medical services.
The nearest hospital to Devi’s house is located 24 miles away in the town of Gopeshwar and it is no less than a battle to reach there. One has to carry Devi through an ice-cold river and then up the hill to reach the road. Even the condition of that road is so pathetic that the nearest spot where the ill woman can avail an ambulance is nine miles away. A taxi brings no relief either as it takes two hours and also costs more than $70, something the poor villagers can ill-afford. Devi’s family took her to the nearby pharmacist once her fever and cough started but after the medicines that were given failed to give her relief, her family is deeply worried about taking her all the way to a hospital, among Covid patients.
Medical relief reaches far late
Devi is not the only one in the valley having the fever-like symptoms. In the past few weeks, more than 80 percent of those residing in the valley have reported the same. But how much can these villagers do given the adversity they face everyday in their lives?
The Guardian also reported that in early May, when the wave in India was at its peak, a 36-year-old activist named Prem Singh from the nearby village of Durmi, wrote to the chief medical officer of Gopeshwar requesting it to send a testing team. Despite repeated calls, the first testing team arrived weeks later and only with rapid antigen kits.
“By the time the teams arrived, the symptoms had already started to go down. With no provisions and zero connectivity, everyone decided to stay at home and drink herbal concoctions. While, thankfully, there were no casualties, and young adults in the village were able to keep a check on every household, we are still quite shocked at the authorities’ indifference towards us,” Singh told Guardian.
Given such hardships, the local people have been left to depend on herbal treatment. Than Singh, who procures medicinal plants for Udyogini, a non-profit organisation, has been distributing them for ever as demand for them has gone high.
Social service runs on credit
For social workers, too, the times have been tough. Godavari Devi, who is employed by a state-funded Anganwadi community centre, has continued to work despite getting no government money for three months. She has kept on borrowing essentials from shops and handing them over to pregnant women besides checking temperatures and distributing basic healthcare and hygiene kits, the report added.
“We have been asked to buy everything out of our pocket as the authorities have promised that we will be reimbursed. Since April, Aanganwadi has not received any funds, but we are expected to provide supplies each month. In these times, when people do not have any income, we are being forced to use our savings,” she said.
Devi also said that they are worried not only because of the pandemic but also the fact that non-Covid care has halted. One woman who gave birth to three babies in May (one of which died) refused to go to the hospital because of the distance and presence of Covid patients in hospitals.
Authorities accused of ignoring villagers
Mohan Negi, president of the village heads’ union for Gopeshwar’s 610 villages, expressed anger over the alleged negligence of village residents. A resident of Irani, the last settlement in Nijmola Valley, Negi approached the district hospital many times but was disappointed to see that Irani’s own pharmacist was sent to Haridwar for the recently held Kumbh Mela.
“Unlike Durmi and Pagna, Irani has its own ANM centre and a designated pharmacist. But our pharmacist had been sent to Haridwar on Kumbh Mela [thought to be the world’s largest religious mass gathering] duty and, despite the official announcement that the festival has ended, he has not been released. The ANM has a few more villages under her and she is only able to visit us once a month,” he told The Guardian.
While it has been alleged that the Covid-testing teams came to the village far too late, Dr Mahendra Singh Khati, Gopeshwar’s chief medical officer said the district authorities were doing their best. Authorities at Gopeshwar hospital said the rising caseload has put a big pressure on their limited resources of six intensive care beds, 100 general beds and a shortage of staff members.
“April and May have been the worst months since the very start of the pandemic. We have been swamped, but despite that, we ensured mobile testing teams in all the district sub-divisions. Nijmola is a remote and partially inaccessible valley. Taking teams would have meant a fortnight covering each village, thus we built a makeshift centre near the valley,” Khati said.
Former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat visited the valley in February, becoming the first high-ranking official to go there in 70 years. He made several development promises for the area but yet the villagers haven’t seen any of those projects taking off.
