Help pours in from Bengaluru for flood-hit Assam

Assam is witnessing one of the worst floods in history – but all is not lost yet, as many from the city are pitching in to bring relief
Help pours in from Bengaluru for flood-hit Assam

BENGALURU: As the flood situation in Assam remains grim, compassionate souls in Bengaluru are coming to the forefront to help the affected people. One of them is stand-up comedian Abhineet Mishra who performed in Bengaluru recently to raise funds for the same. “There are two reasons why this is important to me. One was to amplify their struggle on social media and the other was to help them,” he says, adding, “I am well versed with the condition and intensity of the disaster since I come from Meghalaya, where floods come as annual festivals and destroy livelihoods that take months together to get back to normal.

Two years ago, Mishra had raised Rs 10 lakh for flood-hit Assam, by shooting a show with no audience. “It was to symbolise that that region of India has so many stories to tell but it doesn’t even have any audience. This time I have documented a video showing the devastation and angst of the people. It was followed by two comedy shows I did as fundraisers and we have collected ` 5 lakh so far,” says Mishra, adding that the amount will be sent to NGOs who are at the forefront. The utilisation will be made transparent on his social media handles.

“I am aware of my limitations but doing something is better than doing nothing,” adds Mishra. The committee of the Assam Society of Bangalore has collected ` 1 lakh so far and aims to reach ` 5 lakh in the next 10 days. Dhiraj Talukdar, advisor and former general secretary says that they are raising funds and are not planning on sending any relief kits this time. “All the funds will be transferred to our counterpart in Assam. They will distribute food, sanitary napkins, diapers, baby foods and more,” he says. Primarily working for their rehabilitation, Talukdar says that this year, the floods are massive and have caused severe damage.

“In a situation like this, we can’t choose and save families. Instead, we are planning to raise enough funds to be able to provide relief kits,” he says. Praveen Shukla, founder of Being Social-Ek Nayi Shuruwaat, an NGO is also one of those who has raised funds for the flood-hit communities. “We are helping Assam flood-affected citizens by distributing water bottles, meals, grocery kits and women’s hygiene products. We are sending volunteers to Assam to work on ground with the funds we raise,” says Shukla, adding that they maintain meticulous records on how the money is used. “After the money is collected, we send the donors videos and pictures of the distribution,” he says. (With inputs from Christina M Babu)

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