One of the first relief-material collection centres to appear in the city, as floods intensified across the State, was on Manaveeyam Veedhi. A group of cultural activists and young volunteers under the aegis of the Manaveeyam Street Library flood support centre has been working along with the district administration to deliver relief materials to various districts.
One of the interesting initiatives here was from a group of engineering students who made hundreds of mobile charging batteries to be shipped along with the materials to different districts. The five of them, Aneesh, Kavya, Arya, Akash and Vishnu, had seen a model of the charging unit last Thursday. As reports of people stranded on rooftops and inside houses came in from various parts, they realised that there was a need for a large number of such chargers as power supply was down in most places. They bought the required materials, including batteries and USB connectors, from Thakarapparambu.
Hundreds of chargers
In a day, they had made a hundred such chargers, with each costing around ₹35. A tutorial on how to make the battery was put online.
Members of the public donated food and other material. A stall at on the Manaveeyam Veedhi served as the collection and despatch centre, while the Shishu Vihar School served as the godown. According to members of the Manaveeyam Theruvidam Cultural Collective, a list of all the items contributed are entered in the presence of the contributors. The list of materials supplied to different locations is maintained.
Relief materials have been supplied to Chengannur, Pathanamthitta, and the flood-hit regions in the district. The centre will remain open till Sunday.
