My initiative is to get rid of prejudice. We are united as a State: Thiruvananthapuram Mayor VK Prasanth

Ee Mayor entha ingane?’ (Why is the Mayor like this?) is the raging question on social media now. Just when concerns were rampant that relief work has been lukewarm compared to last year’s floods—because north Kerala is the most affected area, the south and central regions have not responded fully, is the general feeling—Mayor V K Prasanth’s response to the situation should dispel that sentiment.
Prasanth guides volunteers and lorry drivers at the flood relief collection point at the Corporation office with a smile and unflagging energy, through the day and night.It has earned him the moniker of ‘Mayor Bro’ from local residents and netizens.
What triggered Prasanth’s speedy response to the flood situation was, in fact the negative comments on the thekkan-vadakkan (south-north) issue that swamped social media platforms. “It was sad to see such a categorisation at this time of calamity, so my initiative was also aimed at getting rid of any such thoughts of prejudice and to spread the message that we are united as a State. Thiruvananthapuram will full-heartedly keep helping others without any hesitation, as we received great help from other people during the Cyclone Ockhi, when our coastal areas were damaged. We intend to carry out the relief work out of humanity and love for fellow beings without regional concerns,” he says.
Commenting on the recent trolls and comments that he has been receiving on his social media page, Prasanth says he takes it positively. “Many of the trolls are about me putting pressure on the lorry drivers. But actually, they are doing a great job by plying to the flood camps and coming back to transport the next set of goods. The team also includes voluntary drivers who are helping us for free.
We will arrange with the support of the government to pay the fuel charges for the heavy vehicles being used. We also want to felicitate the hardworking people who have worked with us in the relief efforts.” There are 50 trucks plying the relief goods, of which only five belong to the Corporation.

For the past one week, more than 80 loads were sent to various camps in north Kerala from the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. While congratulating his efforts, some netizens are wishing that he ‘completes a century’ in terms of relief load numbers, but some trolls say he is crazy. But Prasanth takes it in his stride, “The trolls will attract more people who will become aware of our efforts. I believe, this will spur more people to volunteer or contribute to us.”
Happy about being a new social media hero, Prasanth says he owes credit to the young bunch of volunteers, who are the real heroes. “We have more than 2,000 young hands as volunteers from our city and from various districts; a majority of them are women. They are the ‘kidilam bros’ of our city who are at the forefront of distributing relief supplies. The volunteers also include 500 youth from our Green Army across the city who are working even at 1 am at the Corporation collection points. We were able to send around 85 loads of relief materials to the affected camps during last year’s floods. We banked on those experiences and so our co-ordination went smoothly this time around. It is a great moment to see the people from the political, cultural and educational spheres, and even from the LGBTQ community come forward to supply relief goods are our various collection centres in the city.”
He says he is also posting every update on my social media, including live videos of the relief loads being transported, to make people understand how we should act at a time of calamity. “This is the time to act positively, rather than attempting cyber-attacks,” signs off Prasanth, before joining the volunteers at collection point.