By 121 News
Chandigarh 28th March:- The city of Chennai and the State of Tamil Nadu were ravaged by floods and incessant rains in the last quarter of 2015. According to estimates, the unprecedented damage caused by them left more than 347 people dead and 1.8 million displaced. According to a report published by Aon Benfield, UK, the floods in Chennai are amongst the eight-most expensive natural disasters in the world in 2015, and have had an impact of more than Rs.20,000 crores (US$3 billion) in losses to the Indian economy.
Bayer India has committed Euro 100,000 (approx. INR 8,500,000) to help alleviate the suffering of these flood victims. Working in close collaboration with the reputed NGO, Concern India Foundation, Bayer is working on a more long term assistance to these flood victims. Concern India Foundation (CIF) is a registered non-profit charitable trust working towards helping people help themselves. Set up in 1991, CIF works in the areas of Education, Health and Community Development.
As a first step, representatives from Concern India Foundation visited the flood affected areas in the beginning of 2016. Through initial visits to the flood affected areas, community meetings, school staff and organization visits, the team has come up with a set of relief measures for improving conditions in urban and semi-urban areas.
Speaking about the disaster relief, Richard van der Merwe, Senior Bayer Representative, South Asia said that to provide targeted assistance to people who find themselves in situations of acute need as a result of natural disasters, Bayer pursues a dual strategy: the company provides immediate assistance following natural disasters both through monetary and medical donations and through donations in kind to rebuild infrastructure. He added that in this case, we have found through our initial study that relief is the need of the hour for rural areas adjoining the city of Chennai especially Kanchipuram located 60 kms away from the city. The principle focus areas of our rehabilitation would center on providing healthcare and help victims get back to their earlier livelihood as soon as possible.
The objectives of the relief measures will aim to provide health care to prevent severe morbidity issues, ensure clean and hygienic drinking water source to prevent health issues and work on increasing health awareness and sanitation with the community for safe childhood and motherhood. A number of health camps, installation of Reverse Osmosis water purification plants, are a part of Bayer's relief program.
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