Around 500 residents between the ages of six and 75 braved the inclement weather, and at 6.15 a.m. on Sunday, decided to run, jog and walk along a 5-km stretch on Old Mamallapuram Road.
The Eureka Run, organised by non-governmental organisation AID India, is in its sixth edition this year, and aims at promoting awareness and showing support towards improving the quality of education for the less privileged children in the State, said Selva Ganapathy, a volunteer.
“The run’s stretch was from the Kasturba Gandhi MRTS station to Tidel Park and back. Everyone completed it,” he said.
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The proceeds from the run will be spent on Eureka Superkids Programme to improve the learning qualities of children in rural areas, through skill-based teaching, he added.
Even though the weather was somewhat unpredictable, it was a pleasant morning, said Kavitha Rajaram, one of the runners and also a volunteer.
“It started raining but then it immediately subsided. There was just a light drizzle. Many participants were not seasoned runners and some were first-timers, but they all came to support the cause of rural education. We had lots of children, many corporate registrations and several above the age of 55,” she said. Run kits that had a t-shirt and an eco-friendly cloth bag were given to the runners, and refreshments served.
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Among the various rescue operations that were going on in the city during the recent floods, the volunteers of Blue Cross in Chennai had quite a task in front of them — rescue animals from low-level areas. It was a tough call for young volunteers who have never been part of such operations.
Volunteers went to Mudichur after hearing that there was a cow stranded in the flood waters but subsequently they ended up rescuing 39 cows that were tied to trees or abandoned by their owners in areas around Mudichur and Tambaram.
More than 12 volunteers who knew how to swim were involved in the rescue efforts till November 21 and they rescued around 1,000 animals that included 700 heads of cattle.
The cows were rescued and then let loose in safe areas.
The Blue Cross premises took in 48 animals which were found injured during the flood and they are being treated there.
Volunteers continued to have sleepless nights, responding to calls from people who complained about snakes entering homes. They have retrieved close to 100 snakes so far.
(Reporting by Zubeda Hamid and S. Poorvaja)