FROM THE FIELD
Vatican City, 24 July 2007 – The Caritas Confederation has launched an appeal for $700,000 to help people caught in severe flooding in many parts of India during this year's monsoon season. Heavy rains in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Assam, West Bengal, and Orissa have affected nearly 2.5 million people.Caritas through its national member Caritas India will help 23,000 families recover from the flooding. Caritas will provide food, household items, temporary shelter, medical treatment, and help with restarting lives.Though the Indian government has been quick to initiate rescue and rehabilitation measures, there are still gaps according to Caritas. Many families have not received the financial assistance because they lost their ration cards in the floods. Medical help is also a problem, with both children and adults succumbing to dysentery and fever. Caritas has conducted needs assessments in flood-affected communities and relief camps, and will provide 200 medical camps, food for 15,000 families, household items for 1,000 families, and tents, plastic sheeting and canvas for 5,000 families.Caritas and its partners will also organize village and pond cleanings (including water decontamination) and temporary home construction or repair, as well as mobilize work programmes which rebuild community infrastructure, like roads and water systems. Agricultural lands are completely flooded. Land treatment activities will be undertaken including the construction of farm bunds and filling of gullies created in the fields. Two thousand families will be provided with seeds and tools to re-start farming.Caritas India Executive Director Fr Varghese Mattamana said: "The monsoon rains have caused flooding in a huge swathe of India. Nearly 2.5 million people are affected. People have lost their homes, their belongings, and their crops."Our immediate response is to provide food, household items, and shelter. We are also organising medical camps to prevent the spread of disease. We will focus on recovery efforts, getting people back into their villages, and making sure they have livelihoods to go back to when they are there. We're facing a huge clean up effort which is why we need support." Caritas India was established in 1962 and has always been involved in relief and rehabilitation work. A first milestone in the 1970s was relief to refugees from Bangladesh. Other major relief and rehabilitations include Andhra Pradesh tidal wave (1977), Orissa cyclone (1988), Latur earthquake (1993), Andhra Pradesh cyclone (1996), North India floods (1998), Orissa cyclone (1999), West Bengal floods (2000), Gujarat earthquake (2001) and currently with the tsunami response. Please contact Patrick Nicholson in Rome on 0039 06 69879725 or 0039 334 6877925[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
