The number of COVID-19 cases increasing in rural areas of the district has started impacting the local economic activities.
There are villages that had 200 to 300 cases. The reasons for the spread may be many - those who were employed in other cities and towns returned to the villages when the lockdown was announced and some of them were COVID-19 positive; there is no control of people visiting houses to supply milk or vegetables; and there are crowds in front of PDS outlets, banks, etc. The public, too, are aware of the need to be careful, but are not alert in following the precautions. They still go out for condolences and at least two or three people test positive. In some places, the cases have reduced in the last two days, say sources.
Tomato farmer Amirtharaj at Kinathukadavu says that there is fear among the public as the second wave of the pandemic has hit villages. Hence, there is reluctance to come to work. When the labourers go to nearby villages, 10 or more workers travel in a vehicle. Now, that is not permitted. So, the labourers are unable to go to nearby villages for work. Several traders who buy from the farmers are not coming regularly to the wholesale markets to purchase the produce. And the price offered is low, he says.
Moorthy, a vegetable farmer near Pollachi, adds that the the main impact is on the labour front. “It is very difficult to get workers and wages have increased too,” he says.
According to Velusamy, a powerloom weaver in Palladam, the weavers are hit hard by the second wave. When the cases increased in Maharashtra, the weavers here could not send goods to the State. Now, the cases are declining there but have increased here. And the units are under lockdown. Bhoopathy, a job working weaver at Somanur, adds that vegetable traders, weavers in Somanur area are affected.
In Pollachi, 70 % of the workers are from other States and almost 50 % of them have returned to their home States. Several villages have imposed self quarantine or there are entire villages that are affected. Since, there is lockdown now and these are lean months for the coir industry, the sector is yet to realise the impact of the spread in rural areas, say sources.
At the Kurichi Industrial Estate in Coimbatore, P. Nallathambi, president of the Manufacturers Welfare Association, says the units are closed because of lockdown. While 60 % of the workers are from the northern States, the rest come from nearby villages. “They are not coming to the units now because of the lockdown,” he said.
