As Kerala battles to get back to its feet in the wake of the devastating floods, Ahmedabad Kerala Samajam (AKS) sent two volunteers to ease coordination for the relief operation. The organisation will also soon send emails to members, asking all to volunteer their service in the rehabilitation efforts back home. CV Narayanan, one of the members of the organisation who went to Kerala to help with the relief and rehabilitation, said they could not fly as the airports were inaccessible. "We had to go through Coimbatore. We reached Palakkad but the relief materials were stuck at many places because of the rain. The next day when there was a let up in rain, we were able to move forward," said Narayanan. He said they decided to concentrate on the hilly regions were a lot of people living in the far-flung areas still needed help. "The idea behind coming here was to ensure better coordination. We could have sent the material from Ahmedabad itself but we wanted to ensure that we are providing help where it was most needed. In such situations coordination is very important," said Narayanan. We visited six camps on the first day and realised that they were more in need of things than food. "We made use of the fund collected by the organization for relief work and brought cups, buckets, mats, candles and matchsticks from local markets to be distributed," said Narayanan. He said women are the worst hit, as many had escaped their homes with the clothes on their back. "There is a need for hygiene products particularly sanitary napkins and such," said Narayanan. N Sivadasan Nair, another of the organisation member who helped with the coordination efforts said they got in touch with local organisations to ensure that they were allowed access into interior areas. "We moved to Kozhikode, where we helped some 200 fishermen families with food and other relief materials," said Nair. What is actually needed could be determined if someone is out there at the site of rehabilitation. "We have been getting a lot of inquiries from relief camps about cleaning materials. People now want to return to their homes and they are finding themselves devoid of any cleaning materials. They want broom and dusters and such as in many places the shops have also been washed away and the nearest bazaar is very far," said Nair. The two will now move to Cherthala and Kuttanad to get stock of the help needed there. KM Ramachandran, president, AKS said not just Keralites, several other Amdavadis have come forward to help the flood victims. "We have managed to collect Rs 20 lakh in funds. People are also coming forward to help by providing relief material. But we want to know what the needs are before we start collecting materials," said Ramachandran. Surat to send 15,000 sarees, blankets More than 15,000 sarees, 5,000 blankets, 5,000 sanitary napkins, 2,000 towels, and hygiene-related material are among the items that will go to the victims from Surat. The announcement was made following a meeting of top corporates, NGOs and other organisations with the Surat district collector on Monday. "Two trucks containing the relief material will be dispatched on Tuesday. These will be just the beginning as we are getting inquiries from many more people about what and how they can contribute," Surat-based activist Sanjay Ezhava said.

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