NGO pledges Rupees 1 Cr for Rehabilitation of Flood affected

Hyderabad Diaspora Abroad Pledges Support for flood relief

Direct Bank Transfers (DBT) to beneficiaries

 Hyderabad, October 26: The recent flooding in the city of Hyderabad has caught the attention of not only denizens of Hyderabad but many NRIs from across the globe. Thanks to the perennial updates about the situation in Hyderabad on social media, several locals including NRIs have come forward to support the families affected by the October flash floods that literally sank Hyderabad.

According to city-based NGO Helping Hand Foundation, which conducted a survey of the affected localities, “80% of the damage caused by the flood has affected the daily wage earners, who were already struggling to come to terms after the COVID induced lock down”.

“In an overnight flood fury thousands have lost almost all their essential house hold belongings leaving them in a precarious position.  Many small traders, auto walas & push cart vendors have lost their means to stand back on their feet”, said the organization.

Although a massive humanitarian aid is being mobilised & is being provisioned by Government & voluntary organizations and groups for the flood ravaged families of Hyderabad, yet as per preliminary assessment done by the NGO – “the quantum of aid required to help restart life’s is far higher than the what is being provisioned”.

Further the organization reported that here is a need for a coordinated effort between different Aid agencies to maximise the benefit and reduce overlap. Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) has partnered with SEED (Support for Education & Economic Development), one of the fastest growing charities in the USA, and pledged an amount of Rupees 1 Crore, for the Rehabilitation of the flood victims.

According to Mujtaba Hasan Aksari, President of Helping Hand Foundation, the trust is already “coordinating with other large charities working on ground to reduce overlap of relief efforts, so that each one of us reaches out the maximum number of people”.

“We are glad that a lot of Hyderabadis and others settled in USA have promptly and sympathetically responded to our Flood Relief request. We are confident that through our partner, HHF the aid reaches to the victims on time to restart their lives”, said Mr. Syed Mazharuddin Hussaini, Executive Director, SEED, USA.

HHF & SEED, have also budgeted and will spend another Rs 25 lacs for relief operations which included food packs, ration kits, cleaning up operations & medicines through several medical camps running in affected areas for the past 10 days.

The Rehabilitation program will be rolled out starting from 26^th Oct, 2020 covering 6 slums areas viz., Farooq Nagar, Hashimabad, Al Jubail Colony, Ganga Nagar, Gazi-e-Milat & Fatima Nagar under Falaknuma and Yakatpura divisions.

A survey of the flood areas is being conducted with the help of 50 Volunteers and 10 Supervisors.  The organization said “Direct Benefit Transfer will be done to the beneficiaries, who can then use the money for the rehabilitation process.”

The rehabilitation will cover but not limited to, restarting business for small traders and kirana stores, repair and works for auto rickshaws and cabs, support to push cart vendors to restart work, house rent for displaced, minor repairs to houses, and purchase of house hold essentials in some cases.