Showing great empathy for the plight of Keralites struggling against the floods, Chennaiites have been sending aid in the form of money and moving tonnes of material across to the neighbouring state. Volunteers of many service organisations are working overtime to ensure the food and material reach the flood-affected in time to be of help.
A few coordination centres have been set up in Chennai to monitor calls for help from Kerala and to help with the logistics of sending relief material as well as assisting in real time with the rescue operations.
Shruthi Prakash
The experience of working for any natural disaster relief is almost surreal. On the one hand you are shaken by the sights that are around you, whereas on the other you are immensely proud of the power of unity. When people come together and you can see visible differences around you, it has an etching impact.
This time for the kerala floods, I was only able to help with raising funds and material donations through my friends and colleagues. These are the points in your life you see true generosity. People donating from their first salaries, from their meagre savings and much beyond their capabilities. It’s a heartwarming moment. During the Chennai floods, I remember seeing one of the toughest moments of my life. It was a man scavenging through piles of waste, finding a packet of Puliogare (Tamrind rice) and relishing it. It’s in these moments that you are able to truly grasp the magnitude of a natural disaster, when it can shake your entire core. Volunteering for me is literally the least I could do to try and support the people who are in need. It’s the most humanitarian act, and one that will be rewarding when all the chaos is over!
Isac Jayanthi
We have managed to collect sanitary napkins, water bottles, lungis. So far 1 ton of rice bags, 100 bedsheets and 1,000 napkins. They will be sent by train once we get the approval.
Sanjay Bhansali
We have sent 15,000 clothes and 10,000 sanitary napkins to Kerala from the Rajasthan Cosmo Club in Chennai that runs the cloth bank.
Janani Krishnamurthy
We have formed a 60 participant group called ‘WE SHALL OVERCOME’. The group was formed by Janani, Sachin Stalin, Toni Freer, Vinodkumar, Jayachandran, Deepti, Sally, Aishwarya, Jennifer, Shravan, Sumita Pai and Nishant. It was formed for rescue, relief and rehab. Other coordinators who helped are Anand, Siva, Alokparna, Rahul Sehgal, Adarsh, Sumi, Shweta, Latha, Rajesh, Pradeep, Neha, Mandy, Kannan, Praseeda, Ashwini, Dr. Sateesh, Dr. David and many more. During the Chennai flood situation we had seen that people left behind their pets. So we asked local people to volunteer across all the 14 districts that are affected and we are coordinating from across the country. We are all coordinating with the guys in Kerala because they can't be handling calls and carrying out the rescue operations at the same time. We have a lot of wildlife rescuers working there. We are going in a very organized manner this time compared to the Chennai floods since we were experiencing natural disaster for the first time back then and people were panicked. After the Chennai floods we realized that the area coordinators should not be in a panicked mode when they get calls from people who are also naturally panicked. So we formed this group so that the rescuers can rescue the distressed animal in a calm and composed manner. This time around we have put up posters saying “keep calm” so that people trust us and accept our help without panicking. We are keeping the pets that are left behind this time in a temporary place in Bangalore that can house 50+ dogs, so that when the situation gets better they can be reunited with the families. We have a Google feed, we have everything recorded, we have a format that is been made for people who will register all the details like the dog’s most recent photograph and where was it last seen etc. and we dish this information to the rescuers.
Sareetha Sugunan
I had done a lot of work for Chennai when I started off with 200 food packets that my mother wanted me to distribute. Somehow my number ended up on a television channel and I ended up having 2,000 volunteers in my house and distributed 5.5 lakhs food packets in five days. So now again people reached out saying ‘let’s do something’ so that’s how everything happened. I am a part of The Rotary Club Chennai Carnatic, and asked them that I want to do something and it would be great if they could support me. And Maatram Foundation worked with me during Chennai floods too extended help. The relief work is on at 26 centres across Chennai and also from the Kannur Food Guide Group that has 27,000 people associated with it. I have friends from the Middle East also extending their support and sending relief. We have managed to collect rice and food packets from people. At least 89 hotels are helping with funds and materials like bedsheets and blankets, etc. which will be sent through a ship that will leave on Aug. 21 or Aug. 22.
K. Abdul Ghani
I am focused on Wayanad from Day 1 till date. I started the rescue and relief operations 5 days back. My wife’s home is in the same district and when I noticed the rainfall increasing I could sense that there might be a situation like this so I rushed to the place and called up my friend Mr. Vijaykarthikeyan IAS Coimbatore Commissioner immediately and within 24hrs the first vehicle came and next day another vehicle from Coimbatore full of useful things reached in no time. The trucks containing rice, daal, blankets, milk, mugs, buckets etc. reached Waynad Relief Centre at Kalpatta. I also plan on delivering relief kits needed to recover for a month to the families who have lost everything. Then we will be analysing the loss of houses and properties and plan on building tent houses as we did during the Chennai floods.
