Vedanta Resources Limited has reached out to 14,000 families in Worli Koliwada by providing them the daily requirement of dry rations for a month.

The families, mostly from the fishermen community, are daily-wage earners, who are adversely impacted by the lockdown enforced to check the spread of the novel coronavirus. With positive cases rising, the entire fishing hamlet has been cordoned off since last week.

Anil Agarwal, executive chairman, Vedanta Resources Limited, said he was very worried about the daily-wage earners. “I heard about the positive cases rising in Koliwada and the entire area being sealed off. This area is close to where I live, and we decided to help the fisherman community. It is critical that corporate houses assist the government in the fight against this deadly virus.”

He said, “I hope these provision are enough to help this community stay safe during the lockdown.”

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said, “I welcome Vedanta’s initiative and this is a time when we all should unite. A lot of corporates and NGOs have been aiding the State government in its relief work and I thank all of them.“

Vedanta has also set up a dedicated fund across the country.

“The fund will be used to look after daily-wage workers, employees and contract workers; towards preventive healthcare; and will provide help to communities in and around various plant locations of the company,” a company statement said.