“Words are not enough to thank them...but for them, this office wouldn’t have got back on its feet,” said an official of a grama panchayat office in Pandanad. Thanks to a group of employees from Technopark, the office now has new computers and network accessories after it lost everything in the flood. Pandanad near Chengannur in Alappuzha district was among the worst-hit areas during the deluge.
That’s not all. The group has also charted out a plan of action to help many families and students in Pandanad to get on with their lives.
“We work in different companies in Technopark and are associated with various socio-cultural organisations. We have been carrying out several welfare activities for our respective organisations and when the flood demolished the lives of many, we got together to help them. Pandanad came into the picture because Rajeev Kumar, one of our members, stays near the place and he gave us a clear picture of the situation there. Eventually, we collected Rs 4.5 lakh and 20 of us from Technopark took essential materials such as food, clothes, cleaning materials and so on to Pandanad on August 19,” says Biju Sundaran, working with an MNC.
Once they reached Pandanad, they realised that while the relief camps were getting enough supplies many people were stuck in their houses without enough support. “There were both rich and poor. The affluent had money but they couldn’t go out to buy anything. Many women were embarrassed to tell us what they wanted and so wrote their request on a piece of paper for us,” says Rajeev, an employee of Flytxt.
Extending support
Biju adds that the situation was so grim that after coming back they decided to go ahead with relief measures in the area. During the next weekend, three of them — Biju, Rajeev and Vipin P.Appan, Biju’s friend and a techie from Kochi, undertook a field visit to take stock of the situation in various houses accompanied by a panchayat member. “We short-listed 10 houses that needed help. We couldn’t afford to rebuild the houses. So we decided to provide them with necessary household goods. It was then that we got this request from the grama panchayat office to help them with the computer equipment,” says Rajeev.
A group of techies at the grama panchayat office, Pandanad
Except for the router, every electronic equipment in the office was damaged beyond repair in the flood. “We haven’t lost any data because all transactions are done online. But we needed new computers because all 13 machines were filled with slush. When we heard that a group from Technopark was in Pandanad, we didn’t hesitate to seek their help. They came as a blessing for us,” says a panchayat official, who wishes to remain anonymous.
A letter on behalf of the Panchayat Secretary, Pandanad Grama Panchayat, was sent to various companies in Technopark requesting new computers. In the letter, it was pointed out that the revenue of the panchayat was not enough to purchase so many machines.
A few companies responded. “Most companies replace their computers after three or four years and the old ones are usually given away to vendors or to educational institutions that can’t afford to buy new ones. We got such old computers that were refurbished for this purpose and new ones as well. On September 1, we gave six computers and networking accessories. A technician from Kochi rewired the networking cables. Since the internet connection has not been restored, a temporary arrangement has been put in place,” says Arun Sasi of IBS. Sharat Krishna of IBS and Abhilash Sundaresan of Luminescent Digital were with Biju and Rajeev while reinstalling the machines.
Electronic equipment at Pandanad grama panchayat office damaged in the flood
This weekend four more machines will be handed to the office, while one will be given to the nearby Kadapra village office after it placed a request for the same. Alongside, household items worth Rs 1.5 lakh will be distributed to the houses that were short-listed by the group.
The techies are taking turns to travel to Pandanad over the last three weeks. “We plan to do something for the schools in the area. This is going to be a ongoing process,” says Biju.
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