Your money buys them a little warmth

Your money buys them a little warmth

DHANGADHRA (Gujarat): As the list above suggests, giving has never been the problem whenever tragedy strikes any part of our country. The Indian Express readers, like millions of others all over the country, have proved that again again: be it for the Kargil war-affected defence families or the Orissa cyclone-affected, to name two such occasions.

The doubts, if at all, have centred on whom to give -- not how much to give -- and whether or not the help they give actually reaches the affected families in full and in time. That's why, in order to ensure that help reaches the Gujarat earthquake-affected as quickly as our readers responded to our call for donations, we despatched two teams with relief supplies within ten days of the tragedy to villages in the interiors of Gujarat which continue to be cut off. The relief work was carried out on February 6 and 7 and all relief material was procured using funds from the Indian Express Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund.

News from the Epicentre

» Full coverage of the Gujarat earthquake
» Donate online for relief

In quake hit Maiyapur which had not yet seen relief, the first team set up 100 tents and distributed mattresses. In five hours it had provided relief material to every household in the village. The second team visited Aahural, Jakhotra and Barmadi villages in Patan district on the Indo-Pak border. Due to the difficult terrain relief work was at a slow pace. With the mercury dipping to as low as 3 degree C, the people were left with no option but to brave the cold under open skies and the tents, mattresses and blankets made life a little less miserable for them.

Of course, this was part of the immediate relief measures. More such missions will be undertaken for short-term relief. A detailed plan will then be worked out after extensive interaction with government and non-government agencies to identify some of the worst-affected villages and adopt one or more of them for long-term rehabilitation. Readers and donors will be kept informed at regular intervals.