Flood relief
It is difficult to imagine the hardships the people of North Karnataka had to face when the torrential monsoon rains caused severe flooding in the first week of August this year. The river Krishna was in full spate and the water could not be contained as it flooded fields and villages, wreaking havoc in its way. Homes were destroyed, roads were swept away, crops and livestock were lost, and more than sixty people were killed. An unimaginable seven hundred thousand had to be evacuated. The situation is dire as people cannot go to work and children cannot go to school.
REDUCED TO RUBBLE: There is little or nothing left of many houses in parts of the Karnataka region in Southern India.
EFD induction India takes corporate social responsibility very seriously, and as news of the devastation kept coming in the following weeks, they thought that something had to be done to help. Soon, many voluntaries came forward, and the work began to organize everything.
HERITAGE: The old monuments are still standing despite being severely affected by the devastating flood.
They decided to assist the village Chimmalage Gram in Badami Taluk, Bagalkot District. It is near Pattadakallu which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The village, with a population of 1606, is home to around 450 families and more than 260 school-age children.
TAKING OFF: The truck loaded with flood relief material is ready to leave the EFD Induction premises.
It took almost a month to organize, but everything was finally ready on the first day of October, and the truck with the relief material was waved off from Bangalore. The trip to Badami is almost 450 kilometers and they arrived the next day, which happened to coincide with Gandhi Jayanthi – an event celebrated in India to mark the birth anniversary of Mohandas Gandhi, born on October 2nd in 1869. The entire nation celebrated the 150th birthday of the father of the nation, affectionately known as Bapu ji.
CELEBRATION: A flower adorned picture of Gandhi took central stage in the square outside the government school in Chimmalagi.
First on the agenda was to hand out books and stationeries to the school children who had lost all such things in the flood.
BACK TO SCHOOL: Having books and things is one step back to normal life for the children.
For the flood victims of Chimmalagi village it may take years to recover fully from the nightmare they have experienced. The fear and terrible memories may stay with them their entire lives. So, particularly for the children it is important to try and live as normal as possible. Going to school and not missing out on their education is vital.
THE BASICS: Most villagers need everything, so the relief packages contained basic necessities like steel utensils, sitting mats and bed spreads.
Many local village folks also came in to support and help distribute the relief material to the individual houses. They got an overwhelming response from the villagers who had lost their property, livestock and crops.
Many thanks to our colleagues who worked hard to make this happen, and to everybody who contributed generously.