Sounds of knives slicing through vegetables, rice being washed and ladles clicking against cauldrons fill up the premises of Guruwara Sadh Sangat in Visakhapatnam every morning. At the crack of dawn 12 in-house staff get to work and perform the herculean task of cooking for 600 people every day. For them it is a race against time as the officials from Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation come to pick up the food at 12.30 pm which is then distributed at several shelter homes across the city.

“We always have langar at the gurdwara, but after the announcement of the lockdown we decided to use the stocked up groceries to feed the poor and homeless during these tough times. The GVMC reached out to us for food and since March 31 we have been sending out these food packages,” says Dr S D Anand, president of Gurdwara.

The gurdwara serves Veg Biryani, Pulav and Bisibelebath along with dahi raita every alternate day. “Even after the lockdown ends we plan to keep giving the food to these homeless people. We also intend to start serving the poor and homeless at the gurdwara,” Anand adds.

Apart from serving food, the management at the gurdwara also donated groceries to over 110 Shikligar families. “Shikligars are blacksmiths belonging to the Sikh community who migrated to the city several decades ago. They live in seven colonies across the city namely Anakapalle, Madhurwada, Gajuwaka, Kommadi, Maddilapalem and Peda Gantyada. Most of these families have financial constraints and so we provided them with groceries for a month,’ he says.

Volunteers at the Gurdwara preparing food for 600 homeless and stranded migrants in Visakhapatnam during a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. Photo : K.R. Deepak / The Hindu   | Photo Credit: K_R_DEEPAK

In nick of time

Like the gurdwara several organisations and individuals in Visakhapatnam are doing their bit to help the homeless and vulnerable people. Before the countrywide lock down was announced as the fears about the contagious virus started spreading, masks and sanitizers flew off the racks. Even hospitals struggled to find enough of their supplies for their doctors and paramedical staff. When Ananya Gopalshetty, an entrepreneur learnt about the state of doctors in government-run hospitals, she decided to do her bit, but of course from the walls of her home.

Being well connected with several suppliers in the city, Ananya managed to collect 1000 masks and over 35 litres of sanitizers which were donated at King George Hospital and Government TB and Chest Hospital. “There is also a Whatsapp group dedicated to the needs of people during the lockdown that helps others learn about the ground reality of the city. It was through this group that I learnt about the lack of protective gear for the medical personnel in the city hospitals so through CII- Young Indians, an organisation that I am a part of we are reaching out to city-based company Think 3D to print face sheets. We have seen the samples they provided us and soon we will be getting these made in bulk to donate at the hospitals,” she says.

Think 3D is a printing service provider headquartered in Visakhapatnam. The company is working full steam to manufacture face shields, ventilator splitters, ventilator components, COVID-19 test kit machines and COVID-19 test kits.

“ The technique of 3D printing is way faster than the conventional methods of making face shields. In times like these where time is important, we are trying to scale up the production as much as possible. Apart from Young Indians several organisations from across the country have approached us for these commodities. Right now we are focusing on the printing of face shields and test kits as they are the need of the hour,” says Raja Sekhar Upputuri, co-founder of Think 3D.

Ananya who owns the Siripuram-based Waltair Kitchen has started making food for the homeless with the help of her in-house staff. “Currently, my husband and I are financing it but we have also started accepting donations tgroit would be helpful if people come forward and donate to help us scale up this deed,” she adds.

Organisations like Greenface, a NGO that works for environmental issues is supporting several other organisations by donating medicines, food and other necessities. “When we reached out to NGOs working to help stranded people, we learnt that the major issue was food supply. Since my brother runs a hotel, we could reach out to his food suppliers and procure rice, pulses and edible oil. Anyone who requires medicines can also reach out to us with the prescription and we will try to get those,” says Ratna Latha, founder of the organisation.

(You can reach out to Young Indians at 957622758 and GreenFace at 98481 90787)