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World Vision India starts relief operations in Mumbai and Pune

The heaviest rainfall that Mumbai has seen in a single day over the last hundred years - 94 centimetres - has claimed at least 350 lives in Mumbai and its surrounding areas.



Even as people in the affected areas are still grappling to come to terms with the situation, staff from World Vision India, a child-focussed, Christian relief organisation are actively involved in providing relief aid in areas around Andheri, where its Mumbai Area Development Programme (ADP) has been working for the last seven years.



World Vision is providing cooked food for all those whose homes have been washed away in the seven areas in and around Andheri. "Given that these people have lost all the dry provisions that were stored in their homes, there is a need for dry rations", says Biju Mathew, Programme Manager for the Mumbai ADP.



World Vision will be distributing emergency relief packages to 800 families in seven slums, consisting of 5 kgs of rice, 3 kgs of dal, one litre of oil and water purification tablets, over the next two days.



"Anti-diarrhoeal and anti-malarial medicines that are used to prevent water-borne diseases are not available on the street. This will be an immediate need as there could be outbreaks due to lack of clean drinking water", says Biju Mathew, Programme Manager, Mumbai ADP.



World Vision is currently trying to mobilise these medicines. World Vision will also run three medical camps using doctors from the area who have volunteered their service, to aid those affected by the unforeseen rains. World Vision is also exploring the possibility of providing milk for young children.



Pune, July 28: The situation is just as critical in nearby Pune. Heavy rains began lashing the city on July 26, wreaking unprecedented damage on the city's slums. After three days of flooding, some families were still struggling to stay in their homes to prevent their belongings being stolen.



World Vision has rushed in relief supplies to families in the slum of Shantinagar in Pune with the support of the Slum Development Committee and local Self-Help Groups. The World Vision team in the Pune ADP has hired a team of professional caterers to provide cooked food for around 140 families in the worst affected area.



Edward Chauhan, Programme Manager, said that all household materials and stored food have been washed away by the floodwaters, and that survivors had to resort to nearby school buildings for shelter. 500 people were provided with food on Thursday, while lunch and dinner will be provided to 700 people today.



Food supplies are running short in other slums in Sanjay Gandhinagar, Boudh Nagar and Rambanai Nagar, which are also under the Pune Network of Care project. "We are mobilizing volunteers within the community as we take steps to provide relief in these areas," said Edward. World Vision is also looking to provide a 30-day food ration package (containing dry rations such as rice, dhal, salt and oil) to the affected families in all these slums. In addition, World Vision social workers or Community Development Coordinators of these areas are working round the clock to provide emotional support for those affected.

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