‘We shall overcome, together’

Misery enters another day in Kerala. Phone lines are jammed, air, road, rail traffic is hit, rains are lashing out, rivers overflow, mountains cave in, burying more lives under soil, as the survivors lose hope, but a set of warriors tirelessly engage in 24x7 rescue operations to pull them to safety. Amidst all the revival activities, an online smear campaign against the government and the statistics exhorts people to not help the suffering ones, in a divisive attempt, citing religion, politics and geography, spreading false information. The relief operations failed to show an impressive start – there were only a handful of people in the unaffected areas, who, ignoring the negativity around, coordinated collection, transportation and distribution of essential goods to the devastated parts of the state. But after a brief and awkward lull, relief operations are gaining momentum. What a day ago seemed impossible, is being achieved and unanimously, Kerala says, “We shall overcome, together.”

Confirming that collection of relief materials is gaining momentum, C.P. Mani, Junior Superintendent at Kozhikode Collectorate, which is a major collection centre, says, “It’s true that there was a lull, but now, we are receiving a lot of goods from various parts of the state. Truckloads are arriving minute by minute. There’s no more lack of enthusiasm in helping people, but the requirement is huge this time. It’s just that whatever we receive is not adequate. People are showing exemplary unity in times of crisis.”

What was hampering their spirits in the beginning? There’s a lot of false campaign happening. Negative campaign on social media against the Chief Minister’s relief fund killed the spirit of many in the initial stage. “Strangely, people believe it,” observes Simi Sadanandan, an advertising professional who is an active volunteer at the collection centre in CUSAT, Kochi. Another reason is the bad experiences volunteers had to face last time, says Simi, who was a full-time volunteer at Aluva Muppath adam camp last year. “Last year, after our hard work for the first few days, some other organisations, including political outfits, pushed us out of the picture, ignoring our hard work – an act which emotionally affected many of us. Also, the unity that was hailed during the floods fell apart when the Sabarimala issue came. This caused losing people’s trust in unity,” she says.

Help has started arriving collection centres after the initial hesitation. “After reports about lack of resources in started to surface on social media, people are coming forward. Now, the collection centre can send vehicles to Kannur and Wayanad. However, the contribution is less compared to the previous year. The centre needs more,” says Simi, who is seeking help from friends. “We collect goods from people who are willing to donate but unable to come over, and give it to the CUSAT centre,” she adds.

Kozhikode native Dhanesh Anand, an actor noted for his performance in Lilli, feels that the false messages played a spoilsport in an attempt to create a divide between northern and southern Kerala. The fake posts have affected collection in many centres in Malabar. “I could see that the number of materials collected in some parts of Malabar is affected by the fake messages doing the round on social media, but the major collection centres in Kozhikode have been getting immense support. Last time, when we were hit by the floods, there was no shortage of helping hands. Spreading false messages and trying to divide people in this time is a shameful act and should be thwarted. It is time to stand united,” he says.   

The blame is not just on smear campaign, feels Praveen Karoth, a volunteer at Manjeri collection centre which is the biggest collection centre for the flood-hit Malappuram distrct. “Spreading false information is definitely taking a toll on the activities, but that’s not all. Transportation of relief goods to isolated areas is very difficult. Choppers have been deployed, but there are many who are difficult to be reached. People have a general feeling that a lot of goods are wasted. Wastage of goods, I feel, is a collateral damage. All the people at the camps have left behind everything they have; in their hurry to head back home, they wouldn’t care to pack the goods. That wouldn’t even be a priority. And all the relief camps are makeshift ones. When people leave and resources are left behind, it will have to be distributed among the volunteers or people in the neighbourhood or whoever can use it. That’s not a scam or crime. Every good has a shelflife; it’s better to utlise resources that wasting it. But if there’s wastage, we can’t help it either. That shouldn’t be a reason to not help people in distress,” he says.

While appreciating the government move to take action against those who spread misinformation, Praveen adds that steps need to be ensured to maintain a record of all the relief materials. “We are doing it in the Manjeri camp. The materials and money we receive and the people who donate are all recorded in the register to maintain transparency. There are rationing rules in place too. What all we distribute are also recorded,” he adds.

The biggest task, Praveen says, is to reach those who are stranded in their homes for the past 4-5 days, especially in remote areas of Nilambur. “There might be four of five families living in one home with depleting resources, cut off from the rest of the world. A small group somehow managed to distribute relief kits with essentials to a few isolated homes. They came back and said that the families broke down when they received the kits. Their children have been staying hungry and they were watching helplessly till our group went there.”

Only with proper planning and responsible coordination can all the hungry little ones and helpless families be saved from despair. No campaign, regressive ideas or divisive forces should come in the way of compassion and selflessness. It’s yet another chance to show the world the strength of humanity.