THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram-headquartered Kerala Federation of the Blind (KFB) is planning to mobilise funds for the visually-challenged who are affected by flood.
“We have given direction to all our members to contribute to our special account to be created for helping those affected,” said KFB executive director R Sasidharan Pillai. The fund will be utilised to help rebuild houses, loss of livelihood etc. Last year KFB collected Rs 3.5 lakh, of which Rs1 lakh was donated to Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).
Sixty-two-year-old Savithri, a visually-challenged resident of Thottakkad in Kannur, was the last person in her locality to know flooding in her locality.
She lives alone after the death of her parents. As rain got stronger, people came looking for her and shifted a relative’s house before her house went under water. Rainy season, even if it is not flooding, throws up a lot of challenges to visually challenged people such as Savithri.
“We depend a lot on our hearing sense to move around. But the sound of rain and water inundation cripple the movement of us.” says T N Muralidharan, secretary of KFB in Kannur.