Immunity’s tribal affinity: Sustainable practices assist Kerala’s Edamalakudy village preserve COVID at bay

Express News Service
Surprising, however true. Tribal village Edamalakudy, a 40km drive from mountainous Munnar, Kerala, has been lockdown-ready for ages. They made well being a precedence proper from the start. The place is house to the reclusive Muthuvan tribe of two,600 members dwelling in 26 settlements over 35,000 acres of forest on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. They don’t imagine in speaking with the skin world.

This recurring seclusion permits them to comply with social distancing mechanically since their hamlets are unfold far and extensive within the Idamalayar Reserve Forest. Outsiders need to stroll no less than eight km by means of thick jungles to succeed in Edamalakudy. It is not any marvel that this primary tribal grama panchayat in Kerala has not reported a single case since Covid-19 hit India in 2020. Though growth is a overseas phrase to the Muthuvans,  they had been conscious of the results of Covid-19 an infection. With restricted assets, the tribal hamlet was capable of chalk out an ideal containment plan for all the village.

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“When the first Covid-19 case was reported in Kerala, our panchayat officials called a meeting with the poru moopans (hamlet elders) of each settlement to brief people about the pandemic and the necessary precautions the community has to adopt to stay safe and healthy. The officials also provided Muthuvans with sanitisers and masks. Absence of sophisticated health care facilities, road connectivity and availability of basic amenities pose a threat if adequate precautionary measures are not taken,” says R Varghese, the panchayat secretary.  

Edamalakudy village

The Muthuvans took a acutely aware resolution to enter self-lockdown by limiting outdoors journey and blocking all outsiders, aside from panchayat and well being officers. To acquire meals and important gadgets, the tribals need to take employed jeeps to Munnar. In the early days, somebody from every household would go as soon as every week to purchase gadgets they want. Now with rise in Covid-19 instances, two or three individuals go to Munnar to purchase provisions for all the hamlet. “They stay in quarantine for 14 days  after they return,” says Varghese. The jeeps cease at Pettimudi, from the place they need to stroll for round 20km carrying their purchases.

Since the group is adamant about not letting interlopers into their village, the Forest Department has stopped issuing passes. A time got here the place the members didn’t encourage the entry of even the panchayat officers. “When a few members of the community experienced mild symptoms, they went to Devikulam. They were negative,” explains Varghese.

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With the second wave hitting the state, the Panchayat officers arrange a second assembly with the hamlet leaders and urged them to stay with their containment plan. Reports of some migrant labourers in close by Pettimudi being contaminated with Covid-19 are a matter of concern for each officers and tribals. “People on their approach to Munnar to buy important commodities need to cross Pettimudi.

Apart from their efficient containment plan, officers imagine that the Muthuvans’ life-style is answerable for retaining Edamalakudy a zero Covid-19 village. “The community depends on farming and are mostly vegetarians. The clean air and water contribute to sustaining their immune system,” provides Varghese.  Local politicians have been vocal about highway connectivity from the village to town for emergency healthcare to succeed in. But that is additionally what retains the Muthuvans  ‘stay home, stay safe.’

“The Muthuvans are mostly vegetarians. The clean air and water contributes to strengthening their immune system,”  R Varghese, panchayat secretary