At least 3,000 flood victims are being fed and taken care of by volunteers of the UK-based philanthropist group ‘Khalsa Aid International’ in the southern Indian state of Kerala, which is grappling under the worst flood in nearly a century.
The volunteers of the charity organization are operating from Gurdwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha and regional food centres in Kochi to serve three hot meals per day to thousands of helpless victims stranded in the torrential rains.
The simple meal mostly containing rice and ‘dal’ is then packed and delivered off to various relief centers set up by the government across the region.
“Our team is currently at Assisi Vidyaniketan Public School, Perumpilly in Kochi and serving langar to 3,000 people. We have adopted this camp. More volunteers will reach there soon,” Amarpreet Singh, the Asia Pacific managing director of Khalsa Aid told the Indian Express.
Aided by a few local volunteers, the group is also doling out free medicines and drinking water supplies.
Khalsa Aid which was so far funding the operation from its own resources has now appealed to the people for help.
Khalsa Aid volunteers serve food to flood victims in Kochi Source: Khalsa Aid/Facebook
In a post on its Facebook page, the group has put up a list including sanitary napkins, soaps, mosquito nets and tooth brush among a few things that it says are “urgently” required for victims living out of relief camps.
According to official figures, more than 350 people have died and over 800,000 have been marooned in the worst areas affected by unprecedented flood in the area.
Villagers in India's southwest have been trapped without food, water and electricity for days. Some residents have been left stranded on the rooftops of homes fully submerged in water.
In parts of Kerala, entire villages have been swept away by the worst floods to hit the state in a hundred years.
Flood victim Radha Mani says her family has lost everything. Another survivor, who has been left homeless, says she is thankful her family is not among the hundreds killed.
The state of Kerala has endured incessant rainfall since August the 8th, triggering floods and landslides.
Hundreds of boats and more than a dozen helicopters are being used to reach stranded residents and deliver relief supplies, and efforts like those made by Khalsa Aid are going a long way in helping the authorities.
Earlier this year, ‘Langar Aid’- a project of Khalsa Aid was awarded the ‘Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service’ for supporting the vulnerable and promoting equality by following the Sikh tenet of sharing food.
Founded on the principles of selfless service and universal love, the project that aims at fighting hunger worldwide has been providing free food and water to victims of natural disasters, wars and civil conflicts for the last nineteen years.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service is the highest honour given to volunteer charity groups across the UK to recognise outstanding work in their communities.
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In 2015, the charity group had made headlines for setting up a bakery near the Syrian border to feed thousands of refugees in the war-stricken region.
Khalsa Aid Founder Ravi Singh with some locals on the Syrian border Source: Photo Khalsa Aid/Langar Aid
