Kerala Disaster - A humble effort by 40 families & friends in Chandigarh

Brief details of further disbursement of funds is hereunder. Yes, it is taking a bit of time for the disbursement as we are particular about the people being selected - the genuinely needy! Please feel free to write back with any queries you might have. We intend to post the more briefs as we proceed gradually to further disbursements. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applicant Vimala and  P N Aravindakshan Uducham Cheriya Thekanam, North Kuttiyathodu, Ernakulam Application "I am basically a milk farmer with a few buffaloes and Cows to lead a life of self respect by selling their milk and dung.These floods, I lost cows to the floods and find it difficult to sustain the small revenue I used to earn considering the fact that the surviving cattle too are sick. I request you to provide us some funds  in-order that i may get my surviving cattle treated and add a cow to it" Says Aravindakshan in his application to...

After a few round of serious discussion within the managing committee of the Charity Society under the Vicar's leadership, we have been able to get to where we have now been able to extend the very first small help from the funds we could generate from considerate contributors like you. Brief details for your information is hereunder. Please feel free to write back with any queries you might have. We intend to post the more briefs as we proceed gradually to further disbursements. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applicant K A Parameshwaran Kootupara Veedu Cheriya Thekanam, Kuttiyathodu, Ernakulam Application "I lost two milking cows, a major source of  our family income, to a landslide in the mountains, as a result of the rain and flooding in Kerala during the latest. I request you to help us out of this mess in whatever way possible. I do not have kids and it is me and my wife who are looking towards h...

Kerala is not really new to the wet embrace that it confronts each rainy season and that too, often, twice a year but then it has never ever been such as it happened this time. Between 9th and the 15th of august Kerala received 255 percent more rain than it normally does. The result - 44 rivers in spate, 87 major landslides (not to count the smaller ones and the ones not reported at all), water from 33 dams released - catastrophe! Over 46000 hectares of crop lost, 2.25 lakh people rescued. Over ten lakh people moved to over 3200 relief camps. 360 dead and still counting. Rs.25000 crore is the estimated loss to the state. Now comes the rebuilding. That is the challenge ahead. Let us sincerely hope that the rehabilitation and rebuilding of the state will boost the economy of the state. The lessons we have learnt neglecting the all powerful nature must be respected and followed through to it's logical conclusion. Probably, it is time for Kerala to have a sincere relook into the ...

Traditional Kuttanad fishing method - casting the net! Yes it is  ONAM today - a sublime Onam wishes to readers! Kuttanad, also known as the rice bowl of Kerala, is a badly floodhit space in the backwaters of Kerala and this is the place where I have my family home too. Floods indeed are not at all new to Kuttanad, which is 2.2 meters below sea level and that is exactly why it is called the backwaters. Kuttanad has to bear the discharge from rivers like Pampa, Achankovil, Manimala, Meenachil and Muvattupuzha before they end up in the sea through a man-made bund and a spillway. But this monsoon, the heavy rains in the northern/eastern part of the state and increased flow in the rivers and to top it all, the poor discharge through the two regulators, Thaneermukkam bund and Thottappally spillway has resulted in the floodwater staying in the region, longer. Internal sources inform that there was a non clearance of the sand at the mouth of the spillway pending a dispute regardin...

100% literacy attained by the state could be ascribed to the social inclusiveness that prevails in the society in general, in the state of Kerala. I do have faint memories of the feudal system prevailing in Kerala, in my childhood, which today is almost non existent. This has resulted in social inclusiveness today existing in the state and was very evidently visible, be it the anonymous fishermen folks and the off-duty civil servants, not to forget the unknown individuals who so selflessly contributed their 'bit' in the rescue operations when many of the the political class 'retreated'! The society now needs to revitalize themselves to face the aftermath of this major catastrophe. When will we learn to hear to the noises that predicts such calamities like the 'ignored' Gadgil report? When will the motive of development, laced with greed give way to a thought process which can be good for all? When will we stop the brazen abuse of nature, which is a major reas...

Every effort to bring about a change in the lives of people hit by disaster is a brave one. Limited resources does not mean we do not take a step in this direction. Every penny of help extended to the disaster hit goes a long way in comforting the affected! It is with the 'support' (and conviction) of the above thoughts that we, a small group of the Saint Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church Youth League {SMOSHYL} initiated the fund raising from friends and well wishers. It indeed is a small but very important step for us and we are convinced to take it to the needy and the suffering in the state of Kerala, with the moral and financial support from one and all. As is evident, the state is surely being helped enormously by the Central Government as well as the various State Governments in the Indian Republic, both in cash and kind but despite that there are many in the interiors of the state who are not able to avail the benefits of these largesse. It is this section of the s...