Thousands of people in the flood-stricken Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir are to receive emergency aid from Tearfund after the area suffered its worst monsoon rains in 50 years.
Tearfund’s local partner, the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief (EFICOR), will this week distribute food, including rice, wheat and pulses, to 500 of the most vulnerable families who’ve suffered as a result of flooding and landslides.
The food supplies will be enough to last 25 days, with warm clothes, hygiene kits, cooking utensils and plastic sheets for shelter also being supplied.
However flood damage is hampering communications and access. EFICOR, which has a track record of responding to natural disasters, such as the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, is working closely with the Indian government and other humanitarian agencies at state and national level to get help to those who need it as quickly as possible.
Prince David, Tearfund’s Country Representative for India, said, ‘The monsoon rains this year have brought misery to millions of people. Although the waters are starting to recede, it will a long time before many of those affected can resume their normal lives. Through our partners, we are responding where the need is greatest.’
The disaster has so far claimed 220 lives in India and left a million people needing help. Thousands of villages have been inundated by the floods, with many people taking to their roofs to escape the fast-rising waters. Others are staying in temporary camps and temporary shelters.
Five days of rain have caused rivers to break their banks, widespread damage to roads, other infrastructure and crops. The floods have also brought devastation to parts of Pakistan where 230 people have died, with the state of Punjab badly affected, as well as Bangladesh and Nepal.
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