Kerala overcame its initial lukewarm response to calls for materials to be supplied in relief camps in less than 24 hours and Sunday saw collection centres receiving copious flow of articles and volunteers turning up for sorting and packaging them.
Collection centres in the state capital were abuzz with packing and mobilising flood relief materials to help the flood-ravaged northern Kerala. The Thiruvananthapuram corporation has till now sent five loads of disaster relief materials to flood-hit districts in the past three days.
The 24*7 collection centres of the corporation are functioning at its main office and in Women’s College.
The collection centre opened by the Trivandrum Press Club also had a good response. On Sunday, a truck full of relief materials was sent to the camps. The articles included drinking water, dry fruits, baby food, sanitary napkins, bedsheets, soap, anti-septic lotions, mosquito nets, bleaching powder, candles and medicines.
Thiruvanathapuram district administration which played truant initially opened the collection centre at SMV School in the city. The response from the public was, however, very poor on day one. The centre was opened a day after a controversy erupted over the social media video of district collector which said there was no urgency in sending relief materials.
“We are collecting materials for Kozhikode. The first load is expected to leave soon,” said an official.
However, the collector was nowhere in the scene at the centre. When asked officials said he has taken a half-day leave and would be joining them at the collection centre by late evening.
A couple of relief collection centres in Kochi received good response on Sunday.
The collection centre at Cusat, opened on Satu-rday, saw Good Samar-itans arriving to deliver materials from food articles to sanitary napkins from morning itself.
“We’re sending two truck-full of materials to Nilambur on Sunday night and another tomorrow, encouraged by the overwhelming support pouring in. People are donating cleaning materials too besides the daily essential commodities like food and clothes,” said a Cusat official.
Meanwhile, the district authorities opened a collection centre at Collectorate building too where relief materials have started arriving. A direction was issued late on Sunday restricting functioning of such centres by private parties.
“Those who already started such centres should handover the materials to the centre at collectorate. We’ve already deputed teams for packaging and sending materials to affected regions as per need being assessed through official communication system,” said a district administration official.
Within 24-hours of its opening, the collection centres opened in Thrissur received 3,719 packets of biscuits, 325 kg of rice, 1,867 drinking water packets, 423 sanitary napkins. Besides that, diapers for kids, soap, anti-septic lotions, sugar, pulses, tooth brushes and paste, blanket, torches among other items.
Officials in district administration said that the collected relief commodities would be taken to the concerned centres in each of the taluks for distribution among those affected by the floods.
