Thiruvananthapuram responds to flood-relief call slowly, but steadily

Collection centres opened in many places witness influx of necessary items for the camps in affected places across the State

August 12, 2019 12:56 am | Updated 07:33 am IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 11/08/2019::: Voulenteers A sorting the items received at the Flood  relief  collection centre set up at Womens College by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday..........Photo: S_Mahinhsa/The Hindu.

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 11/08/2019::: Voulenteers A sorting the items received at the Flood relief collection centre set up at Womens College by the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday..........Photo: S_Mahinhsa/The Hindu.

The time is past 10 p.m. on Saturday. A call goes out in social media and the city Corporation’s own volunteer networks on the need for more volunteers at the flood relief material collection centre that has been running for the past two days in front of the civic body’s main office in Palayam.

Before long, a group of youngsters, most of them in their twenties turned up at the collection centre, ready to take over from the group that has been tirelessly sweating it out for hours.

Even as there has been talk of lack of interest among the public in donating relief material in the initial days of the opening of the centre, these youngsters have been all spiritedly waiting to give it their all, at any hour of the day. Many of them have been nurtured through the Corporation’s Green Army initiatives over the past few years, concentrated on the city’s schools. Now, they take their turns, working voluntarily in shifts. A total of 1,200 of these volunteers are now deployed across the Corporation’s two collection centres at the main office and at the Government Women’s College at Vazhuthacaud.

When the first truck full of relief materials, from food items to clothes and medicines, rolled out of the Corporation office at around 9.30 p.m on Saturday, relief was writ large on faces of the officials. For, the collection centre which was opened on Friday for the flood-hit districts in northern Kerala did not witness much of a footfall on the first day and even on the initial hours of Saturday.

Part of the reason for this initial indifference was the strong fake propaganda in online platforms claiming that the relief materials through official machineries were not reaching the intended recipients. Also, reports from last year that large amounts of flood relief materials from other States were lying unused at various centres also contributed to this. But the Mayor and officials had to make it clear that most of these unused materials were items past their sell-by-date, items without expiry date labels, old clothes, and torn dress materials that arrived here through trains and flights from various parts of India.

 

Probably to address these concerns, the city Corporation on Sunday began uploading live videos of the progress of the trucks carrying relief materials. In the afternoon, the video of the relief material from the city being unloaded at a centre in Kalpetta was shared on the page, to much appreciation from the city residents.

Till reports last came in on Sunday evening, five trucks carrying flood relief materials had left the Corporation office, to Kalpetta, Mananthavady, Nilambur, Kozhikode and Alappuzha.

“The relief material collection has improved a lot today. Last year too, the collection started slowly because people were concentrating on the rescue efforts, as many were stuck on roofs of buildings and in other places. We expect better response in the coming days. Till now, we have been using mostly the Corporation’s trucks to transport the materials. From Monday, we will be getting private trucks too,” said Mayor V.K. Prasanth.

The Corporation has sent out volunteer squads for door-to-door collection of materials too. Responding to the requests from volunteers, many residents, who did not have enough material to spare at home, later brought relief materials to the Corporation’s collection centre.

“On Sunday, we had enough of food materials and clothes. So, a call was issued for cleaning materials, medicines and for blankets, for which there is a shortage in most camps,” said Anoop Roy, a Corporation official.

A video message from the District Collector K. Gopalakrishnan, posted on Friday, saying that there was no need to send relief materials on that day because the flood-hit districts are concentrating on rescue, caused some confusion as it went viral on Saturday. The district administration had to issue a clarification on Saturday night to clear the air.

“Based on the inputs from affected districts, urgent need was with respect to the medical help and we have been quick to address this, sending teams to requested districts, besides other types of assistance such as rescue boats,” said a message on the page. The district administration opened its collection centre at SMV Higher Secondary School on Sunday morning. The collection was picking up there when reports last came in.

Prathidhwani, socio-cultural organisation of Technopark employees, also began their collection drive on Sunday at the Technopark club. With employees from companies chipping in, the first vehicle carrying relief materials left at 7 p.m. on Sunday for the relief camp at Kavalappara in Malappuram, which was hit by a major landslip.

The Thiruvananthapuram Press Club has also begun a collection centre, from where the first load of materials left on Sunday. The State Youth Welfare Board has opened a collection centre at Bharat Bhavan, from where the first load will be flagged off on Monday morning. The Manaveeyam Theruvidam Cultural Collective, in association with the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, has also opened a relief material collection centre on Manaveeyam Veethi. In addition, the National Savings Scheme (NSS) units, NCC and scouts attached to various schools in the city have begun their own collection drives. Queerythm is also organising a collection drive at Narmada Complex near Kowdiar, with a vehicle carrying relief materials likely to leave for Wayanad on Monday.

A clear instruction has been issued to all those collecting relief materials to hand it over to the centralised collection centres of the district administration in the respective districts, so that it is distributed to the relief camps, as per requirement. This was done, as there has been a piling up of relief materials in some camps that are easily accessible while many ones in remote areas were experiencing scarcity.

With people from all sections chipping in, the initial apprehensions regarding a shortage of materials may be slowly receding. But, volunteers still maintain that an outpouring of generosity like last year is still missing.

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