KOZHIKODE: The district is seeing one of its largest of displacements in its history with the number of people seeking refuge in relief camps crossing 53,000 on Sunday.
It is facing an acute crunch of relief materials though contributions are pouring in from various parts.
Though there were no major landslides in the district so far, the area of impact is much larger than last year with most of it was affected by floods.
From the Thamarassery Ghats to northern sea cost of Vadakara, the destruction struck across the district.
Comparing with last year when the number of people in camps was around 10,000, this year it is almost six-fold higher.
District collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao had to give repeated calls to the public to contribute more in tune with the needs of those crying as well as fuming in the relief camps.According to Dr N. Suresh Kumar, the leading light of Compassionate Kozhikode project which is leading the rescue and rehabilitation activities, though the number of volunteers is sufficient, the quantity of relief material arriving here is insufficient to cater the needs of more than 50,000 people in camps.
Moreover, the roads and rail route to the district also were snapped due to floods and destruction which made the well-wishers from other parts of the state including former collector of Kozhikode N. Prasanth to ensure more supply.
The Keralites from other states also failed to provide sufficient supply as the extent of calamity this year has hit across the region. However, with the floodwaters receding now, truckloads from other parts have started flowing.
As the area of destruction was far and wide this year, the relief material that reached the centralised procurement centre also was less.
Dr Kumar hoped things would change soon, and more people would come joining in the movement to extend support to the needy.
