Help continues to pour in from several Kochiites for the flood-hit people in Kuttanad.
District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla had handed over three truckloads of relief materials to the District Collector, Alappuzha, on July 28. The collection of relief and essential items, being co-ordinated by the district administration in association with Anbodu Kochi, a social media collective formed to help the victims of the massive Chennai floods in 2015, is progressing at the Regional Sports Centre, Kadavanthra. Members of the voluntary group said that they will receive relief materials and essential items from individuals and organisations till August 5.
The volunteers had started collecting rice, vegetables, milk powder, essential medicines, masalas, groceries, etc. from July 26 onwards donated by many individuals and organisations, who came forward to support the Kuttanad flood relief work. “It was a moment of pride for Kochiites, as we could collect about 22 tonnes of essential items within two days. These materials had already reached the needy,” they said.
The volunteers of Anbodu Kochi will be available at the Regional Sports Centre from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to collect the relief materials. Volunteers who are working in various fields are taking their turns to manage the counters where they are collecting groceries, soap, detergents, buckets, disinfectants, bleaching powder, etc. “Once the water level in Kuttanad recedes, we plan to provide further support to help the locals get back to normal life. The idea is to either focus on a particular affected locality or to provide academic materials to the students who have lost their books and other materials during the flood,” they said
Residents in Kuttanad, who are not connected by boat services, are in need of essential items like red cow peas, green gram, bengal gram, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, sambar powder, curry powder, washing soap, bath soap, tooth paste, etc. The volunteers have urged the public not to give used items. It will be of great help, if these items are given in the form of kits that could be delivered to the beneficiaries. More details about the initiative can be had from M: 9895320567 / 9809700000 /9447775990 /9544811555.
Volunteers of Anbodu Kochi had worked with then District Collector M.G. Rajamanickam during the Chennai floods in 2015. It had provided 25 truckloads of relief materials from here to the flood-affected people in Chennai. They had managed to collect 250 tonnes of essentials, including medicines, within two weeks in a massive exercise involving about 4,000 volunteers.
