In Gongma village, the roads have been deserted for weeks before the janata curfew swept people off the streets. Gongma is part of the Chuc...
In Gongma village, the roads have been deserted for weeks before the janata curfew swept people off the streets. Gongma is part of the Chuchot area in Ladakh. Along with the neighbouring hamlet of Yokma, it is the epicentre of the coronavirus cases in Ladakh.
Gongma, about 18 kilometres away from the district headquarters of Leh, has been isolated since March 8, days after a pilgrim back from Iran tested positive for Covid-19. The administration notified the containment of Yokma, also in Chuchot, on March 17. “Nobody’s going out of the containment area,” said Abdul Qader, the numberdar, or headman, of Yokma. “People from our village who went outside are not allowed to return. They are staying with relatives outside.”
The cold, sparsely populated desert region has recorded 13 cases so far – two from Kargil district and 11 from Leh district. Of these, Qader said, 10 cases were from the hamlets of Gongma and Yokma in Chuchot.
Confirming that villages had been contained, Ladakh divisional commissioner Saugat Biswas said security personnel had been deployed, “as per the Covid-19 protocol”. “Basic medical facilities and even banking facilities are running,” he said. “Ambulances are placed outside at exit points.” He could not confirm how many villages had been...