Flood-affected Mahad villagers get help; kids chip in with money received as birthday gifts

THANE: Despite the difficulties brought on by the ongoing pandemic over the last year and a half, the Thane region has opened its heart and pursestrings for the flood-affected people of Mahad.

An alliance of around 25 social workers, who are collecting donations for the cause, have found themselves inundated with money and supplies from all over Thane.

The recent severe downpour and the resulting natural calamities in Mahad have caused severe hardships, claiming scores of lives and rendering hundreds of villagers in rural Mahad homeless. Help has been pouring in from all over the country and several NGOs based in Thane came together immediately in order to coordinate relief efforts, forming a separate group named Mission Konkan Team.

“The first thing we did was to travel to Mahad and conduct a survey of the affected families, to get a clear idea of what was required. We realised that since the villages affected by the floods were away from the main roads, many people wishing to donate supplies were only leaving them with the victims gathered at the accessible roads. Hence, not every affected family was getting the supplies. To rectify this became our primary mission,” Kalwa resident Ajay Bhosle, 25, and a member of the Samata Vichar Pracharak Sanstha said.

The social workers then started appealing on social media platforms, seeking donations. To their delight, they were able to raise ₹1.20 lakh on the first two days. The donors were from all over Thane district and even included a group of little girls who donated money they had received as birthday gifts.

The social workers had already prepared a list of supplies that they had decided to provide to the victims, and these were bought immediately. These included rice, lentils, pulses, cooking oil, tea, sugar, basic clothing, innerwear and sanitary napkins. All the clothes provided to the victims were new ones bought in bulk. This was done keeping in mind that not everyone was comfortable wearing used clothes, due to superstitions attached to it as well as for hygiene reasons.

“We went to the villages and distributed coupons to each family, telling them where we were waiting with supplies and asking them to claim a kit in exchange for a coupon. This was done to ensure that every family got at least one kit. Wherever we felt that a family needed more than one, we did the needful,” Vikas Dhanawade (30), a member of the Jhep Pratishthan said.

Dhanawade said that with the coupon system, they were able to cover eight villages in a single day, distributing the kits to a total of 550 families in the first round alone.

PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO Mission Konkan Team with supplies to be distributed to Mahad villagers affected by the recent floods.