Covid-19: Maharashtra's Hiware Bazar shows the way of breaking the chain

Ahmednagar’s Collector Rajendra Bhosale and Zilla Parishad CEO Rajendra Kshirsagar have appreciated the efforts of Hiware Bazar and Sarpanch Pawar

The ideal village of Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra has shown the way how to combat the Covid-19 pandemic

From 1-15 May, there has not been a single case of Covid-19 in Hiware Bazar, located in the Nagar tehsil.

The village that has a population of 1,600 to 1,700, over the last three decades has seen a transformation from a drought-prone village to a model village known for rainwater harvesting, water conservation, and management programmes.

“We have successfully managed to break the chain during the second wave,” Popatrao Pawar, the Sarpanch of Hiware Bazar, told DH over phone

Pawar, who has been the Sarpanch since the nineties, said that during the second wave, the first case was detected on 28 March and by 2 April, there was a spurt of cases.

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“Between March-April, 52 cases were reported in the village but now over the past fortnight there are zero cases... So far only one death because of Covid-19 have been reported in the village…a lot of efforts have gone in breaking the chain. However, we are not going to lower our guard,” he said Pawar, a recipient of Padma Shree and several other awards and honours for leading the way in community participation

Speaking about how Covid-19 was controlled, he said: “When the cases were reported initially, we decided to check body temperatures and oxygen saturation level of all villagers compulsorily. Since the RT-PCR report was taking 8 to 10 days, we decided to conduct Rapid Antigen Test on the suspect cases...there were some false negatives.

The people who were suspected to have Covid-19 were quarantined at the training centre of the Yashwant Krishi Gram and Watershed Development Trust (YKWDT), a non-governmental organization set up by Hiware Bazar’s Gram Sabha (GS) in 1994.

“The reports were shown to expert doctors and some patients were shifted to hospitals, of which four needed oxygen support,” he said, adding that every day, he speaks to 23 to 30 families. “They also call me on the phone or our volunteers,” he said. "Four vehicles of the village have been kept in readiness in case patients need to be moved to the town for treatment," he said.

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All protocols/SOPs are being followed and the vaccination is also conducted in the village.

According to him, the people who got the infection are among those who go to the Ahmednagar town for jobs or work or go to milk collection centres, vegetable markets, ration shops, bank/ATMs. “We told people about the importance of physical distancing and quarantine,” he said.

Ahmednagar’s Collector Rajendra Bhosale and Zilla Parishad CEO Rajendra Kshirsagar have appreciated the efforts of Hiware Bazar and Pawar.

On the ongoing agricultural activities, Pawar said that nearly 300 to 400 people come and work in the fields. “We have made arrangements for their stay near the villages,” he said, adding that in agricultural fields also Covid-appropriate behaviour has to be maintained.

Two patients from the village are in the hospital - and they have tested negative - and expected to be back home soon, while one person in quarantine will be discharged on Monday.