New Delhi | December 7, 2011
The United States Chargé d' Affaires to India, Ambassador Peter Burleigh, today announced an additional $497,838 (INR 25,681,513) as United States Government humanitarian relief for flood victims in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. This follows an initial United States emergency grant of nearly $50,000 (INR 2,325,000) in September 2011.
The additional funds will provide approximately 45,000 people across five severely affected districts in the state with essential items to reduce the risk of illness and restore flood-affected families' livelihoods. The items include material to help communities build temporary shelters; hygiene kits to prevent water-borne diseases and promote sanitation; and vouchers for smallholder farmers to purchase materials, such as certified seeds and fertilizers, for the winter cropping season.
Save the Children and Catholic Relief Services, two international nonprofit organizations, will coordinate the relief effort, with the Government of India and the state of Orissa.