The Covid Heroes who risked their lives

As India went into lockdown and people retreated into the safety of their own homes to beat the pandemic, there were those who risked their lives to fight from the front. Shahabuddin Ashrafi and his team worked to spread awareness on Covid protocol. Sadiq Husain and Rahul George worked with the Mercy Mission to give the dead a dignified sendoff. As a nation, we owe these frontline workers an interminable debt. Hameed Ashraf reports.

While panicked residents in Bengaluru made themselves safe inside the comfort of their own homes, feeling grateful for the economic safety nets they had built to get through the lockdowns, there were others who stepped out into the lockdown to make a difference and set an example in humaneness for all the rest.

The city remained in strict lockdown but there were pockets across the city where rumours, misinformation and a lack of awareness thrived and Covid protocols were largely flouted.

Syed Shahabuddin Ashrafi, a resident of Gangondanahalli near Nayandahalli, was one among those who stepped up to raise public awareness campaigns that helped dispel misinformation and promote precautionary measures like wearing masks in public, observing physical distance and staying at home as much as possible.

Awareness

During the two hours of relaxation (shopping hours) police had a tough time managing the crowd at the roads, markets and the shops.

The social worker met with the Gangondanahalli Residents Welfare Association and the local mosques in his area and persuaded them to raise awareness about the pandemic.

“We got permission from the police and had loud speakers installed at various places around the area to communicate with and engage local communities and persuade them to follow Covid protocols,” Shahabuddin said.

Soon, inspired by his approach, several other residents joined him and came together to fight the good fight against COVID-19 as nothing short of heroes.

Supply of Essentials

“One of the major problems faced by the people here was access to regular meals due to their low and unstable income,” he said. Shahabuddin arranged for more than 3000 rations kits for the residents, spending his own money to do so.

Later, with the help of Gangondanahalli Residents Welfare Association and several corporates, leaders and influencers, they distributed about 10,000 ration kits, masks, sanitizers, hygiene kits and medical supplies to the needy.

“We started getting calls for help from neighbouring areas including the slums. Our volunteers delivered 2000 food packets daily to such families,” he added.

Political leaders from BJP and Congress, including Karnataka Minister of Housing department V. Somanna and Govindraj Nagar MLA Priya Krishna too came forward and showed their support by donating generously.

Lauding the efforts of the team, Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of police, M Sanjeev Patil said, “The work carried out by this group is commendable. The team helped the police officials during their Covid duties and I appreciate Shahabuddin and the trusts involved in helping the marginalised,” he said.

Getting Beds and oxygen cylinders

As people in Bengaluru were in desperate need of basic medical facilities like ambulances, hospital beds or even oxygen cylinders, the group led by Shahabuddin took this adversity as an opportunity to go above and beyond to help people selflessly.

“As we were in touch with several doctors and hospitals, we helped a couple of people find hospital beds and in turn, helped several hospitals across Mysuru road procure oxygen cylinders,” he said. When asked if he was afraid of getting infected during the mission, he smiled, “It would have been for a good cause.”

“The motivation is simply that these are very difficult times and I just wanted to encourage more people to come forward and show that we all are together in this tough time,” Shahabuddin told News Trail.

Vaccination

“There was a lot of hesitancy for the vaccines here and we had a hard time convincing people to get jabbed with their doses. Some people had been misguided by the messages that circulated on social media. However, gradually we achieved results in this field too and motivated people to get their vaccines,” he said.