TIRUNELVELI
Sending relief materials from Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari districts commenced on Saturday as the public, traders, rice mill owners, hoteliers and the social organisations have started donating liberally relief materials to be sent to the flood-hit population of Kerala.
Following an appeal from Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish on Friday, they handed over the relief materials which were stocked in a private godown on the North Bypass Road before being sent to Kerala in the lorries in the evening.
Though the Rice Mill Owners Association donated 8 tonnes of rice immediately after their meeting with the Collector on Friday, the essential commodity has been held back here as the Kollam Collector told Ms. Shilpa over the phone that they had adequate quantity of rice and vegetables now for immediate distribution to the public.
“Since they are in need of dry food like bread, biscuits, rusk and dry fruits, medicines, flour, cereals, baby food, cloths, bedsheets, diapers, sanitary napkins etc. we’re sending them this evening. The rice collected here will be sent to the flood-hit districts of Kerala when we’re asked to do so by the Collectors concerned,” Ms. Shilpa said anticipating that demand for relief materials would swell manifold once connectivity with the badly hit districts like Idukki, Malappuram and Waynad was restored.
The Collector said the relief materials were being sent to Kollam district via Nagercoil and Thiruvananthapuram as the ghat road, which was closed following landslips, still remains closed for vehicular traffic.
She appealed to the donors only to give new cloths like lungies, nighties, inner garments, bed sheets, blankets,
“Since the hospitals in flood-hit areas are facing acute shortage for oxygen cylinders, 30 cylinders are being sent from the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital,” said Ms. Shilpa, who has deployed 10 officials for maintaining the inventory of the relief materials received here.
In a meeting chaired by Principal of Sadakkathullah Appa College, Palayamkottai, M. Mohamed Sathik, the students promised to collect relief materials worth ₹ 10 lakh and send it to Kerala by Wednesday.
Even as grappling with the rain-related damages, the Kanniyakumari district also has started sending relief materials to Kerala. The first batch of trucks carrying the relief materials left for the destination on Friday night.
Collector Prashant M. Wadanere personally inspected the packing of relief materials.
Thoothukudi Collector Sandeep Nanduri flagged off two truck-loads of relief materials, donated by the public, Neyveli Lignite Corporation’s power station, SPIC and the government officials to the flood-hit Kerala.
Relief materials packed in four containers, donated by the shipping clearing and forwarding agencies, traders, hoteliers and the public, were sent to Kochi by coastal vessel S.S.L. Krishna from Thoothukudi harbour around 2 p.m. on Saturday. Though the coastal vessel carrying the relief material containers was to leave for Kochi harbour in the morning itself, gutsy winds delayed the voyage.
The Indian Coast Guard’s Thoothukudi Station, which has sent 60 personnel in two ships to Kerala for relief and rescue operation has sent along with them sizable quantity of relief materials also.
VOC Port officials said their employees would distribute relief materials to the rain-hit people of Kanniyakumari district on Sunday.