CYCLONE AMPHAN: OUR APPEAL TO SUPPORT THE LAST & THE LOST.

CURRENT SITUATION

Cyclone coupled with COVID 19 has choked the coast of Eastern India. The double whammy has exacerbated deaths & destruction of a magnitude never seen before. Humanity is reeling under serious uncertainties of future.

The Bay of Bengal’s fiercest storm of this century, super-cyclone Amphan, slammed into the coast of eastern India on 20th May, Wednesday afternoon.

The super-cyclone made landfall at 4pm local time with winds of about 120mph (190km/h), causing storm surges of up to 5 metres (17ft), before moving northwards towards Kolkata, one of India’s biggest cities. More than half a million people in West Bengal were moved from vulnerable low-lying areas to shelters. The Indian navy was put on high alert to be ready to offer humanitarian assistance to those caught up in the cyclone, which is only the second “super-cyclone” to form in the Bay of Bengal since records began. In Odisha, it is estimated that 45 lakh lives have been affected however the assessment is under process right now.

The cyclone is estimated to have killed at least 80 people (in West Bengal, as on May 23) and left behind a trail of destruction that the cyclone-prone south Bengal has not faced in past many years. There has been unprecedented loss to property, crops/plantations. An enormous number of trees and poles have been uprooted - leaving villages without electrify and phone connection. The loss is estimated to be over Rs 1,000 crore and will push lakhs of people back in acute poverty - who were already pushed to the brink due to Covid-19.

INITIATIVES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT:

37 NDRF teams have been deployed in Eastern India to provide immediate support to the affected. After the aerial visit and review to the affected parts of West Bengal and Odisha, Prime Minister has announced an immediate relief assistance of Rs 1,000 Crore West Bengal and Rs. 500 Crore to Odisha. He has also announced Rs 2 lakh each for families of those killed as ex-gratia and the injured will get Rs 50,000.

THERE IS A NEED TO DO MORE.

CAF INDIA’S APPEAL TO SUPPORT THE LAST & THE LOST.

In order to provide immediate response to the communities to help them recover and thrive, CAF India is launching its appeal to individuals and organizations to come forward and donate.

To support the affected poor people who do not have food, clothes, shelter and basic protection against COVID 19, donate now using the link below: