Fear driving locals in North Karnataka out into fields

HUBBALLI: With Covid-19 spreading rapidly across districts in North Karnataka, locals are moving out of their homes in villages and staying in fields. The trend began in Tumukuru and Gadag districts, but has caught on in other districts too.
Just as they did during previous epidemics and pandemics such the plague and small pox decades ago, locals are moving out of crowded villages with essentials such as clothing and groceries.Experts welcomed the trend, claiming it will cut community transmission since social distancing is rarely followed in villages. Moreover, experts say, immunity levels of people improve when they are exposed to fresh air and sunlight.
Iranna Lakkundi, a farmer in Kotumachagi, Gadag district, where many are moving to huts and sheds in agricultural fields, said, “Because of the fear of Covid-19, we are now spending more time in fields where contact with others is rare.”
Suresh Sangareddy, a merchant in Kavalur, Koppal district, said seniors and children are staying out in the fields and only youngsters come to villages to buy essentials. “Social distancing is impossible in villages since people sit together on the same platform constructed between two houses,” he said.
Folklore scholar Dr Siddanna Jakabal, a native of Savadatti taluk, Belagavi district, said it was a common practice in the 1940s for people to erect temporary huts and stay in the fields. “They would have a grinding stone, sow vegetables and grains and generally stay independent,” Jakabal said. “This indigenous knowledge was transferred from generation to generation. This temporary shifting prevented any type of pandemic from spreading.”