NEW DELHI—While attention has focused on the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India’s major cities, the situation in the vast countryside is becoming worrisome. Those fighting the pandemic point to poverty, lack of awareness, and fear as complicating factors. Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned in a speech on May 14 that the pandemic is rapidly spreading to rural India and urged citizens to take precautions. Rural India has over 640,000 villages and over 890 million people, which is more than double the total population of the United States. It’s not only extremely culturally and linguistically diverse but also geographically variegated with some regions closer to urban regions while others are extremely remote, like those in the high reaches of the Himalayas. “I want to warn you about corona. This pandemic is spreading fast in rural villages. Every government is making efforts to stop this. But awareness of this among rural …