Kerala House has started an initiative to collect relief for Kolhapur and Sangli this year, since people in Maharashtra had contributed heavily for the Kerala floods last year.
“On Sunday evening, we had a meeting with close to 30 Malayalee associations in Mumbai. We have decided to collect relief for the Kolhapur and Sangli flood-affected people first. Last year, when Kerala had floods, we had collected relief for our home State and received a very good response from people in Maharashtra. Hence, this year, when Maharashtra is facing trouble, we felt it is our moral responsibility to help them the same way,” said Sindhu Nair, who is associated with the Malayalee association in Vashi.
Last year, Kerala House had sent relief materials to Kerala in 40 trailers. In less than 24 hours, Kerala House has received 500 bags of rice, weighing 25 kg each.
Three centres for the collection have been allocated in Mumbai. While Kerala House is the collection point in Vashi, Chembur has Adarsh Vidyalaya while Dombivali has Holy Angels School. The relief material collected at all three centres will be brought to Vashi and packed on Thursday. On Friday, two trucks are expected to leave with the relief material to Kolhapur and Sangli.
“We are collecting rice, biscuits, new clothes, water, masala powders and grains. On August 15, we will be making kits that will contain essentials for a family. It will suffice for a few days at least,” T.N. Hariharan, president, Keralayee Kendra Sanghatna, said.
This year, North Kerala has suffered huge losses on account of landslides. “This year too, Kerala needs help. After we are done with our mission to help Kolhapur and Sangli, we will take up the initiative to help Kerala. We have close to 50 volunteers who were active during last year’s floods. More volunteers are welcome,” Ms. Nair said.
