ReliefWeb

This year the flood has shown the worst picture in the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh. The increased water in the river Ganges has displaced hundreds of people from their homes. The low-lying areas in the Varanasi region were fully underwater causing panic among the residents. More than a hundred villages in ten Districts of Purvanchal were badly hit by the flood. During the flood not only the state government has expedited relief and rescue operations to prevent the loss of life and property, but Non-Government Organizations also stepped in to provide handholding support to the government through the District Administration. Janvikas Vikas Samiti and Diocese of Varanasi Social Work with the support of Caritas India was seen at the ground to serve the poor and Marginalized communities by providing them dry Ration Kits.

Flood water in Mirzapur, Ghazipur and Varanasi district and its different blocks displaced many families in several localities. The swollen Ganga did not show any sign of stability in water influx, thus there was no respite to the people living in the flooded areas at Varanasi Ganges belt spread around 43-kilometre distance. People moved away to safer places such as roadside, camps, government schools, and Panchayat Bhawan’s, etc. as the water had flooded several villages. The local administration tried to provide relief to the people but was insufficient as the damage was very large scale.

Caritas India partner in Varanasi did the need assessment in all the target areas and the preliminary findings identified the immediate needs of ready to eat food, water, medicine, mosquito net, and later when the water subsides dry ration. Once the request for a Dry Ration Kit was proposed by the Partners to Caritas India it was accepted and decided that the organization will intervene during this natural calamity to provide relief to poor and needy families in the form of dry ration Kits. Around twelve hundred Dry Ration Kits were distributed to the most vulnerable families affected by the flood so that the primary need for food can be taken care of during this chaos.

Before the distribution of the dry ration, Jan Vikas Samiti also provided the cooked food packets in the most affected areas where there were chaotic conditions and displacement from the flood.

The support of Dry Ration Kits to the poorest of the poor and marginalized families was a prolific action taken by the partners where there were fewer possibilities for these families to get the food from money as everything was displaced from this water. More than twenty villages were covered by the two partners in Varanasi, Gazipur and Mirzapur district where dry ration Kits comprising of Rice, Flour, Pulses, Edible Oils and Spices were given to twelve hundred and ten vulnerable families so that they can manage their meals for the survival. When the situation from the flood water was worsening the condition of the families in the villages, blocks and district this small initiative of the partners through Caritas India and Caffod support had tried to bring back life to normal with a new ray of hope.