I am Gayatri, I work under Video Volunteers in Ambedkar Nagar district.
The janta curfew imposed on 22nd March in Ambedkar Nagar due to the spread of corona virus…
At 5:00 pm, the SHO of Devana Police Station himself went around Devana Bazaar and Harishankar Ganj Bazaar
And made people clap, cling thalis, even ghantees (bells).
Thereafter he profusely thanked the public for making the janta curfew successful.
The police station in charge took out this rally?
Yes.
Was any action taken against him after this?
No. No action was taken. We are on the third day now.
A while back, two policemen made the rounds and it can be heard outside even now that tomorrow it will be closed again.
The curfew will again be there and no shop, nothing will open.
Two people from Ahladi village who had gone to Mumbai for work were here.
They were picked up yesterday and taken to the district hospital.
They brought them back after check up saying there is no corona virus.
There are a couple of people more who have come from Mumbai and are hiding in their homes.
We don’t get to know when they go out to defecate.
The atmosphere of fear is so intense that people live only with fear.
People are coming to check their fields. And there is an unusual situation because of fear.
No one is going to work.
So the shops and hospitals are open there, what is the situation like?
Shops were open today, yesterday they were closed till noon and after that a few were open. Police was here
They said that the intersection and the road have been completely closed. They asked people to close here too.
Looks like everything will be closed here too tomorrow.
The district hospital is open that’s why both of them were picked up and taken there.
There is no hospital here; there is a PHC, which is of no use.
So in UP, how many people have the infection? Have there been any positive cases in Ambedkar Nagar?
Ambedkar Nagar does not have any positive case. They had just taken those two and got them back saying it is negative.
They took them on their own by ambulance and dropped them back.
There was a rumour about a cloth merchant, whose son had come from France, that they got it from their son.
But it turned out that all this was a lie.
Meaning people are spreading rumours too?
Yes, there is a Bengali here who doesn’t have any daughter, but it was rumored that his daughter is corona positive.
Then we came to know that there is a Bengali doctor in Vishrampur, his daughter has got it.
Such rumours are going on, they just talk about anyone.
But there is intense fear. Till now, people used to wear masks and tie handkerchiefs.
But now they are also wearing plastic gloves in hands.
What work are ASHA workers doing there in Ambedkar Nagar? Are they doing some surveys etc.?
No, not doing it right now. Even PHC is deserted.
ANM comes and goes back.
We had a child birth here, ASHA worker quietly came only to see the child and went back.
So survey work is not going on but PHC is on?
Yes. And nothing is happening there, the doctors are not seen there, no nurses too.
And then the kind of atmosphere we have, the traffic is being stopped... Now they are saying that tomorrow it will all be closed.
Today the market was a little open; the vegetable vendors were being driven away with sticks.
The government has come out with instructions that people should stay in their homes, not move out, so is it being followed?
Yes, it is being followed. No one was seen the entire day on 22nd.
People were not seen until yesterday afternoon, after that, a few started coming out.
Today, they have stepped out to the fields…
Or people are coming out to check on the open animals that harm the farming...
And I had shared a photo; you must have seen it was completely deserted.
Alright Gayatri ji, thank you for updating from the ground.
We will talk again. As and when there is any development or if there is any information we will speak with you again.
You take care of yourself.