Kochi: Railways, KSRTC join flood relief works

Kochi: The Railways and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have stepped in to lend a supporting hand not only in the delivery of relief materials to flood-ravaged northern districts free of cost but also act as collection centres for essential supplies.

The Thiruvananthapur-am division of Railways on Monday started relief material collection centres at Ernakulam Junction, Ernakulam Town, Aluva and Thrissur railway stations and deployed its own staff for coordination and packaging of the same.

“Passengers and good Samaritans can contribute any material which would be helpful for flood victims. We’ll coordinate through district collectors and make sure the materials are delivered to affected regions like Nilambur as per demand,” said Nithin Nobert, Ernakulam area manager.

Initially, the plan was to help those railway employees who were affected by the flood but later expanded the beneficiaries’ list with reports of a shortage of essential commodities in the affected parts.

“We’ll start new collection centres in Angamaly, Chalakudy, Kottayam and Alappuzha stations too on Tuesday. The first load of relief materials will be supplied to the affected regions starting from Tuesday night,” the official said. Meanwhile, the Railways also offered free transport of bulk relief materials through trains.

“The order from headquarters in this regard has come, and the same is applicable with immediate effect. If we receive small quantities, then we’ll include them with the materials at the collection centres and then ship to the affected areas,” Mr Nobert said.

The response at collection centres was initially weak, but more and more people began to contribute materials from drinking water to medicines to cleaning equipment among others by evening. The authorities are expecting more aides to pour in on Tuesday, a working day.

Meanwhile, KSRTC is also offering free transport of relief materials from all its major depots since the last two days besides setting up a collection centre at Chengannur bus station.

“The materials are being sent to affected regions as quickly as we can. Besides we’ve handed over nearly ten buses along with drivers to district authorities in areas like Kalpetta and Kozhikode for relief activities like transporting of flood victims from camps back to houses,” an official said.