THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst the unprecedented floods, volunteers involved themselves in collecting, sorting, packing and transporting relief materials to those affected. Bond Safari Kovalam, the adventure underwater company, with their team of scuba divers also led the rescue operations in Neyyattinkara, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Chengannur and Adoor.
The Bond Safari included 12 members along with the army officers and fishermen who joined them in the rescue operations. The relief work started from Thiruvananthapuram where the team rescued people from Neyyanttikkara. After that, they headed to Pathanamthitta for rescue operations, as per the request from the district administration. Their expertise in scuba diving and underwater experience helped in accelerating the rescue mission.
The team also provided food, clothes and medicines to people living in camps and also those who decided to stay back in their houses which were less flooded. “We decided to distribute food and other materials to people who were staying back in their houses as they were not getting any food supplies,” said Jackson Peter, the founder of Bond Safari Kovalam.
They distributed relief materials to about 200 people and rescued about 300 people with the help of army officers and fishermen.
Jackson also highlighted the fact that although help was provided to the people, it was not a timely help. He said disaster education programmes should be conducted so people can take precautions and know what to do in cases such as this. He said, “The government system is also not equipped to handle disaster so proper training should be given how to effectively work in such situations.”
The volunteers have been actively working in the Adoor distribution centre for the past five days almost 24 hours in a day to support the affected areas in Pathanamthitta district.