Kerala Floods
Kerala & Karnataka have been devastated by unprecedented rains causing flooding and large scale losses across the states. All the 14 districts of Kerala have been severely affected and 14.52 lakh people were moved to relief camps. The livelihoods of thousands of families have been disrupted and over 370 people lost their lives.
In the adjoining state of Karnataka some districts such as Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada have been severely affected by the floods with over 1206 houses damaged and 9 deaths reported till date.
The armed forces along with various government and civil agencies have been deployed for rescue operations. The scale of the disaster is tragic and United Way Mumbai is working closely with humanitarian agencies, government and disaster relief units to channel funds effectively and efficiently to areas of greatest need.
United Way has always been in the forefront of disaster response since the past 16 years and is allied to a wide range of organisations providing relief interventions in various capacities. These are broken into immediate pressing needs and mid to longer term requirements for which there are often no resources available.
As part of immediate relief interventions, we organized health camps, distributed basic essentials kits and supported a prototype of a transitional shelter.
As efforts move towards mid-term and long-term rehabilitation, there is a requirement for :
A. Distribution
of Transitional Shelters
The situation
in Kerala with the recent floods remains precarious. It is inevitable that
permanent housing including reconstruction schemes and compensation packages
will take a significant amount of time to materialise. Families cannot survive
in tents and tarpaulins for that long. Rather than risking unsafe rebuilding or
return to damaged homes, transitional shelters are a more viable option.
The shelters are 17.5 m2 and made of stone/brick, bamboo/timber, roofing tiles/GI sheets, bamboo mats/coconut leaves.
Some of the
key features of the transitional shelter include:
-Low cost construction technology
-Locally available materials like laterite, stone,
bamboo, timber and roofing tiles
-Doable using local construction skills
-Quick construction process
-Acceptable and adaptable for local community
-Shelter as per average family size meeting
international humanitarian standards
-Structural design considering flood risk and
strong winds
-Reusability of materials for future permanent
construction
B. Health Camps
Temporary medical camps will be organized with the objective of providing immediate and basic health services to affected populations and preventing spread of epidemics. These camps typically cater to skin diseases, stomach ailments and water borne diseases. Families shall be given free medical consultations and issued basic and important medications on a case to case basis.
Each camp will be staffed with 6 doctors, 6 paramedics and 3 volunteers. It is expected that each camp can cater to about 250 patients per day and about 1750 patients over one week.
C. WASH
Water and sanitation remain an urgent requirement. With a large number of wells damaged or polluted, the communities require support for WASH (Water-Sanitation-Hygiene).
D. Rebuilding Schools
Partially damaged schools will be rebuilt while incorporating disaster risk mitigation and child friendly measures.
All contributions are eligible for 80G tax exemption
Immediate relief
The immediate relief phase is now drawing to a close. We request your support for mid / long term rehabilitation.
- Deployment of relief material.
- Health & hygiene kits
- Dry rations
- Temporary shelter
- Medical camps
- Sanitation requirements
All funds received are transferred without any admin or retention towards the relief activities
Mid- Long term rehabilitation
- Medical support
- Shelter
- Sanitation
- Health & Hygiene interventions
- Reconstruction of public utility infrastructure
- Livelihood support
UWM retains 5% on the total funds raised to cover expenses towards the deployment, site visits and monitoring of the same.
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