india

Updated: Apr 26, 2020 21:43 IST

At a time when there is still not much awareness over coronavirus in Odisha, a 32-year-old youth in Odisha’s Kandhamal district is spreading information about the necessity of social distancing through his wall painting skills in the tribal villages of Kandhamal district.

Pramod Dandia, who runs his family by doing wall painting in Baliguda block of Kandhamal district, has been painting the walls of villages with murals on Covid-19 to show the importance of maintaining social distance. Since last 12 days, Dandia, who has not attended any arts school, is painting the walls of government buildings with several messages on coronavirus with his own money.

“While people are donating money to CM relief fund, I thought why not do something that would raise awareness among the tribals in Baliguda? There are very few posters about coronavirus in the panchayats of Baliguda. From what I know, it would take quite some time before we win over the virus. Awareness about social distancing, wearing masks and hand washing are going to be the main weapons in the fight. I am depicting that in my paintings,” said Dandia.

Of the 30 districts in the state, Covid-19 cases have been reported in 10 districts. Till Sunday, 103 cases were reported with Khurda district topping the list with 46 cases. However, Kandhamal so far has not seen a single positive case.

The youth spends around Rs 500 for each painting and has so far done about 60 wall paintings. “I plan to paint more villages in neighbouring Boudh district,” he said.