Several organisations and individuals swung into action to help people affected by floods in Chennai.
The Twitter hashtag #Chennairainshelp and #Chennaifloods saw an outpouring of relief plans as well as information about how people from the city could help those stranded due to the floods.
Teams were organised to pick up food, containers, blankets, medicines, raincoats and umbrellas. Volunteers willing to pick up relief material and help with co-ordinating rescue information were encouraged to sign up using Google forms.
“From this Saturday, we will be operating free trucks to Chennai. Those who want to send relief material can contact us. As soon as there is enough material for one load, we will send a truck. This will continue till material is being contributed,” said G.R. Shanmugappa, President, Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners’ Association.
In the meantime, startups like Practo are contributing by creating lists of doctors who were available on call in the inundated city. A statement from Practo said that these lists would be verified and updated every hour.
State offers helpThe Bengaluru unit of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) of fifty men has rushed to Chennai on Wednesday morning and are involved in rescue operations.
The state government had an emergency meeting on the rescue operations on Wednesday. Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao also tweeted that the chief minister had sanctioned Rs. 5 crore for relief work apart from organising relief materials and medicines.
S.K. Pattanaik, secretary, Home said, “We have communicated to the Tamil Nadu government our willingness to rush teams of Fire and Emergency Services to Chennai. They have said that they would seek help as and when required.”
How you can helpRam Kashyap, a resident of Bengaluru has created a team of volunteers and plans to shuttle between the two cities with relief material. He can be reached at 8147558586 or http://bit.ly/1QT3CQl
G.R. Shanmugappa of Federation of Karnataka Lorry Owners’ Association can be contacted on 9845018448 for help with moving relief material to Chennai.
Team Chennai Rain Relief 2015 – CRR can be accessed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChennaiRainRelief2015/. They are looking for volunteers in Chennai and other cities.
