Focus on public sanitation in the wake of COVID-19 has improved a lot with majority of villages looking very clean and most of the panchayat staff paying special attention to spraying disinfectants on a large scale for the first time in Anantapur district.
The other positive aspect is the unity among the villagers with Grama Sachivalayam (Village Secretariat) playing a key role in ensuring the ‘21-day Lockdown’ by moving towards village self-sufficiency. In Gutukuru, people have been sharing their grocery reserves with neighbours and there is no panic reaction like the one seen in Anantapur city.
Village Secretariat staff have helped the Gotukuru panchayat villagers put up notice boards at all entry points restricting others into their habitation and people at Ramachandrapuram village have begun guarding all entry points by taking turns in two shifts.
Thorny bushes and carts have been placed across the roads leading into the villages from national highways and State highways. Those on the Karnataka border areas are more alert as some of their relatives live across the border too, but it is a strict ‘No’ for them to either come into A.P. or these people going there.
“We are happy to find people coming up with their own initiative to stop travel into and out of their villages by guarding the entry points at 20 villages throughout the district and enforcing government orders strictly without the intervention of the government machinery,” said District Collector Gandham Chandrudu.
Massive sanitation drive
Disinfectant spraying activities at Kunukuntla, and Dadithota of Tadimarri mandal, and Chowlur Gram Panchayat in Hindupur mandal began on a massive scale on Thursday with panchayat staff mounting large plastic tanks on tractor-trailers. Motorised sprayers put up on the tractor are not leaving any household from spraying. “We are happy the panchayat is spraying some disinfectant, which is keeping the mosquitoes away and stench emanating from stagnant water in open sewage channels is no more there and such comprehensive operation is being taken up for the first time in the village,” said a resident, V. Brahmaiah.
Sanitation workers toil hard to spray bleaching powder all along the village roads, hoping people do not throw garbage into the drains.
