Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

India

Catholic Relief Services Continues Relief Support For India's Supercyclone Victims: Update April 2000

Emergency Relief Assistance
Catholic Relief Services and Caritas have reached more than 700,000 persons in nearly 600 villages in Orissa with 6,000 metric tons of food aid donated from the US Government.

"The upcoming monsoon season starts in June yet literally, hundreds of thousands of people lack even basic shelter and food." explained Will Lynch, Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services in India. "Catholic Relief Services continues to work with the local Caritas and Dioceses but so much more assistance is still needed," said Lynch.

An estimated 20,000 persons died in the Supercyclone in Orissa, eastern India. The bodies of 10,000 have been recovered; most of the individuals who died were poor subsistence fishermen and migrant farmers from the lowest castes of Indian society. More than 300,000 head of livestock were lost. Approximately 1.3 million houses were damaged or destroyed. Three million farmers and fishermen have lost their means of making a living.

Orissa Continues to Rebuild

To date and as the second phase of relief, Catholic Relief Services and Caritas have offered assistance to the Dioceses of Bhubaneshwar, Beleshwar and Berhampur, enabling them to successfully reach 700,000 people with relief assistance. These Dioceses are taking the lead with the assistance and should be commended for their efforts.

During the months of March and April, Catholic Relief Services will ship more than 2,400 metric tons of United States Government food from Calcutta to Orissa. From these tons, approximately 240,000 rations will be distributed in community reconstruction projects and will be used to feed those most in need.

In addition, the agency is helping to locate donors with items including tools to help dig shallow wells for water, seed packs, fishing boats and nets.

Additional Assistance

During the first emergency phase, Catholic Relief Services, in coordination with Caritas, completed distribution of household recovery packages to more than 45,000 families. Each family received food rations including vegetable seeds, blankets, plastic sheeting, hand tools, clothing and cooking utensils and several watering cans for cultivation during the dry season. Tomato, gourd, pulse and pepper seeds that were recently planted are maturing.

Catholic Relief Services has committed $500,000 of its privately donated funds and has raised $1.1 million from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the Orissa emergency. Catholic Relief Services and its local partners are planning agriculture rehabilitation efforts in Orissa. A rehabilitation program will include sanitizing contaminated wells, distributing fishing nets and tools, and the construction of cyclone shelters and cyclone proof housing.

The agency also distributed more than 30,000 household and vegetable seed kits provided by the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance; and provided another 15,000 household and seed kits with private funds.

Additionally, the agency continues working on a program that will supply fishing nets and rowboats to several hundred families of coastal and inland fishermen. Their boats were smashed and nets were lost during the cyclone and tidal wave. They often exist on the fringes of society and the economy. Many are too poor to replace the equipment and their subsistence existence precludes them from credit.

Agency History

Catholic Relief Services has been working in India for more than 50 years. The agency has a total of five offices in the country, located in Delhi, Lucknow, Calcutta, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

Your support is needed.

Donations can also be made by calling: 1-800-736-3467
or by sending checks to:
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, Maryland 21203-7090.

Copyright=A92000 CRS