KOCHI: Originally conceived with the aim of assisting fire and rescue services department in emergencies after the 2018 flood, volunteers of the Kerala State Civil Defence now feed several hundred street dwellers here, who are deprived of their livelihood and food in the wake of the second Covid wave. They also help the fire and rescue personnel disinfect public places, supply medicines to the public, transport patients to hospitals and dispose of bodies of Covid victims.
The volunteer group functioning under the fire and rescue service department distributes 600-800 food packets each for lunch and dinner daily to street dwellers and migrant workers in Kochi alone. Several people gather at Kaloor, Ernakulam North, MG Road, Edappally and Marine Drive for the food packets. The money for the food packets comes from volunteers and fire and rescue services personnel.
“We collect food packets from agencies now. If the demand goes up, we will start a community kitchen like we did last year. Several residents also donate a portion of their home-cooked food. Some of them donate money for the cause. On Monday, we supplied 600 food packets. The food packet contains rice, sambar and two side dishes. During lockdown last year, we could supply around 25,000 food packets in Kochi and surrounding areas. There are several street dwellers in Kochi city who depend on us for the daily food during lockdown,” said A Unnikrishnan, station officer, Gandhi Nagar fire station.
Binu Mithran, divisional warden of civil defence volunteers here, said that the group has 3,037 registered persons in Ernakulam. Of these, 267 have received state-level training. “On Monday, we carried out disinfection in Ponnurunni area. Around 90 per cent of registered volunteers in Ernakulam are active now. We have several youngsters, who are students or employed in companies here, as volunte ers. Doctors, government officials and homemakers are part of the group,” he said.