By IANS,
Bangalore : A group of youth from Bangalore will approach corporate houses to finance plans to provide permanent shelters to over 3,000 people living in relief camps in Bihar’s Madhepura and Araria districts that were hit by killer floods last August.
The group of five, which includes two students, returned here earlier after spending two months in the relief camps of Madhepura and Araria. They belong to the Jan Sahyog Foundation set up in 2001 by Aley Rasool, a retired professor from Katihar, Bihar. This was their third trip to the two districts.
“During our stay of around two months in the two districts of Bihar, one thing that hit us the most was that the make-shift shelters lack basic facilities for human habitation, for especially women and children,” said Shah Faisal, a final year student of M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore.
“No matter how much we try to provide succor to the victims by distributing food and clothing, unless they get a permanent roof over their heads their agonies are far from over,” Shah added.
Other members of the group are Karthik Singraju, Abdul Mobeen, Naveen R – studying in Bangalore Institute of Technology – and Sonali Kusum, a student of National Law School of India University in Bangalore.
“During our next visit to Bihar, by May, we plan to arrange for permanent homes for 3,000 flood victims in Araria and Madhepura,” Kusum told IANS.
The five had gone to Araria and Madhepura, two of the worst affected districts, immediately after the August floods to help in relief operations. Their second trip was in Janauary.
The floods were caused by a breach in the Kosi embankment near the India-Nepal border. The river changed course and inundated vast areas in northern Bihar, affecting an estimated 2.3 million people.
“Most of the inhabitants of the makeshift camps are children and women. The camps have no proper toilets and kitchens,” Naveen pointed out.
“Arranging permanent shelter for 3,000 people is no joke. We will need huge funds and we plan to arrange that from corporate houses,” Faisal said.
During the third visit, the group distributed 700 new blankets, jackets, sweaters and other warm clothes to the inmates of the relief camps. Medicines worth Rs. 100,000 were also distributed, Faisal said.