RWAS across city come together to help people in flood-hit Kerala
HELPING HAND Donation centres for relief materials setup, money collected for govt funds
NEW DELHI: More than 2,500 km from Kerala, where incessant rains and floods have destroyed lives and properties, resident welfare associations (RWAS) across Delhi have come together to help the victims.
From collecting food and clothing items and creating awareness about the issue to appealing to fellow residents for help, Delhi’s RWAS said they are doing their bit.
The East Delhi RWAS’ Joint Forum, an umbrella body of over 50 associations, is collecting new clothes and blankets to be sent to the flood-hit areas.
“We have shared the information about the donation on various social media platforms to reach as many people as possible. People can donate these at our office in Krishna Nagar or inform us, after which we will send our people to collect the material. The situation is bad there and help is needed from every quarter,” B S Vohra, president, East Delhi RWAS Joint Forum, said.
RWAS across the city said that though they have heard about the government sanctioning funds for the flood-hit state, they are using all their resources to help in any way they can.
The RWA in south Delhi’s Mehrauli has already collected ₹11,000, with a target of at least ₹1 lakh, to be donated to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
“Besides monetary help, we have asked people in the neighbourhood to donate clothes and ready-to-eat food items,” Sandeep Bali, president, Mehrauli RWA, said.
“Even during the Uttarakhand tragedy in 2013, we had collected over ₹1 lakh and had gone to the villages to help,” he said.
Another federation of RWAS, the URJA (United Residents Joint Action), has appealed to residents to donate funds to the Kerala chief minister’s relief fund.
Apart from residents, people across various assembly constituencies came together to donate essentials to offices of political leaders collecting items to be airdropped to the flood-hit areas.
The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) incharge for northeast Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Dilip Pandey, said that residents of Yamuna Vihar and Ghonda were donating clothes and other materials following an appeal to help the people of Kerala.
“Residents of these areas are coming everyday to my office and are donating clothes, blankets, bed sheets, dry fruits and other packaged foods. We will send these items to help the flood-hit people in Kerala with the help of an NGO,” Pandey said in a statement on Sunday.
In addition to these, the Senior Citizens Forum of Delhi aims to collect ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh for the PM’S relief fund.
“We have collected ₹50,000 so far. We hope to collect more than ₹2 lakh to be donated to the fund. We hope the money reaches the affected areas,” J R Gupta, president of the forum, said.
Rejimon C K, president of the Dwarka Forum, comprising 372 RWAS, said they have already sent a few consignments of food and essential items.
They are now waiting for an input for an input on the exact nature of materials needed.
“We have some materials through the NGO Goonj, including clothes,” Rejimon said.
“We got information that even though electricity was restored, some districts do not have power. We plan to send items like torches with mobile charging facilities,” he added.
Meanwhile, Puneet Kumar, resident commissioner, Kerala House, said, “We have been approached by several organisations as well as RWAS wanting to pitch-in for sending relief items. However, we have told everyone to send reasonably sized and well packed consignments to various SDM offices acting as collection points.”