Help pours in for workers who lost all in collapse

KOLKATA: Nabyendu Hazra lost all his belongings when a deck of Majerhat bridge collapsed last Tuesday. All that the 46-year-old Metro construction worker was left with were a pair of trousers and vest he was wearing and Rs 110 in his pocket. His other belongings got buried under the rubble of the flyover.

On Wednesday, IHA Foundation in association with Gurdwara Behala, came forward to help around 50 such construction workers who lost everything in the bridge collapse. The foundation — in an initiative called ‘Sambhav’ — also handed over a cheque of Rs 20,000 each to the next of kin of Goutam Mondal and Pranab Dey, who lost their lives in the bridge collapse, at a programme at the Keventer Agro office that was attended by the representatives of Kolkata Police, NDRF and the PWD.

“Sarbat da bhala forms the core of Sikhism, which means we always pray for the well-being and prosperity of all humanity. Whenever there is any natural calamity or a disaster — like the Majerhat bridge collapse — we feel it is our duty to extend a helping hand to the victims and the society,” said Satnam Singh Ahluwalia, chairman of IHA Foundation.

“Most of them are left with no money to buy things even of basic needs because they are not being paid as the work has stopped for the time being. They cannot return home because in most cases they are the only earning members of their family. The ration and other things of basic need will atleast see them through for the next one month,” he added.

In the aftermath of the crash, the members of Gurdwara Behala, between Majerhat bridge and Taratala flyover, swung into action assisting in rescue operations and feeding everybody involved with it. In the following 48 hours, the Gurdwara fed up to 5,000 people.

“I stay close by. So when I heard of the collapse, I rushed to the spot,” said Ahluwalia, who is also the general secretary of the gurdwara. “When I saw the magnitude of the tragedy, I immediately knew that the rescue work will take days. We decided to set up a langar at the spot to help out every distressed person.”