THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Reaching out to the flood-affected, the Kerala chapter of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS-K) has come out with a slew of projects. Briefing about the initiatives, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)-India Cluster head Leon Prop said the projects will focus more on development and rehabilitation of respective local areas.
The projects will be able to withstand the challenges posed by climate change also, he said.
“Some of the major components of the project to be implemented at flood-hit areas includes construction of 3,000 houses, cleaning of 10,00 wells and health and hygiene programmes,” said Leon Prop
According to Prop, the said initiatives will be carried out with the help of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) and Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS). While QRCS will focus on sheltering, KRCS will take up livelihood programmes.
“Earlier, a tripartite memorandum of understanding was signed between QRCS, IRCS and IFRC to support the flood-affected ones. The projects that were being planned include mid- and long-term recovery plans,” adds Prop.
For identifying the beneficiaries, the state chapter will use the government data. It will carry out a reassessment exercise with the help of local bodies.
State Disaster Response Team on anvil
Following the finding that IRCS-K is woefully unprepared to meet natural disasters, the Red Cross is planning to set up a State Disaster Response Team (SDRT). According to the state office bearers, similar to that of the state-level body, district-level response teams will also come into being very soon.
“The state chapter had focussed its attention more on social service activities like home nursing, blood donation campaigns and others. But in the backdrop of recent natural disasters, a body like SDRT is the need of the hour,” said Sunil C Kurian, vice-chairman, IRCS-K. The 35-member SDRT will be trained by national and international agencies, said Sunil.