Kottoor forest officials leave no stone unturned to ensure tribals are Covid-free

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With a staggering increase in Covid-19 cases in the district, the Kottoor section forest officials are leaving no stone unturned to prevent local transmission in tribal settlements in their jurisdiction.Tucked away in the dense Agasthyarkoodam forest range situated in Western Ghats, a large number of forest dwellers in Kottoor are still unaware of the pandemic. This, however, has not deterred forest officials from making public announcements about the protocols to be followed. The officials travel to remote parts of the forest making available essential commodities. Along with members of the Eco-Development Committee (EDC), they are trying to protect tribal communities who are one of the most vulnerable to the infection.

“It is difficult to make people in tribal settlements follow instructions. Even though we had given them instructions regarding maintaining social distancing and washing their hands regularly, only a few seem to be following them. Besides setting up hand washing kiosks, we have also distributed soaps to the tribal people,” said K C Sinukumar, section forest officer, Kottoor. He added that medicine kits procured from a nearby ayurveda hospital have been distributed among the tribals to boost their immunity.

After a doctor working at the government-run primary health centre in Aryanad tested positive for Covid-19 along with two ASHA workers and a KSRTC station master a few days ago, many people residing in Aryanad and Kuttichal grama panchayats had to go into quarantine along with a number of tribals from Kottoor. “Around 40 people from tribal settlements in the Kottoor and Peppara region are currently under quarantine. However, all the test results have come negative,” said Sinukumar.

As many as 133 families reside in six settlements in the Kottoor region. “During the initial phase, strict surveillance was done at the checkpost to prevent people coming from other areas. Besides this, awareness campaigns were also held door to door to make the tribals realise the seriousness of the situation. They were told to take all necessary precautionary measures to contain the spread of coronavirus,” added Sinukumar.

The forest officials are adopting further measures to ensure the tribal community is not exposed to local transmission. “Though quarantine facilities can be arranged in some settlement houses having two rooms, it will become difficult if local transmission happens,” said the officials.