Church mobilises for flood victims

Tezpur (AsiaNews/UCAN) – The Catholic Church is undertaking relief operations to help the victims of the worst floods that have hit India in the last 25 years. Many Church organisations and agencies have joined forces to bring aid and assistance to survivors.

S. Samuel, regional assistant of Caritas, the international Catholic social service agency, announced that his organisation was allocating 1.1 million Indian rupees (about US$ 23,900) to relief work in the dioceses of Bongaigaon, Dibrugarh, Tezpur, and Guwahati. World Vision, another Christian humanitarian organisation, said its workers had already distributed relief materials to flood victims worth 500,000 rupees. The organisation was however still looking for further assistance.

In addition to aid and assistance provided by organised groups individuals have also acted on their own. In Guwahati diocese for example volunteers are providing rice, cereals, salt, medicine, and tarpaulin to about 6,000 families.

According to Father Joseph Olickal, director of the archdiocesan social services in Guwahati, "the floods have washed away entire fields of standing crops and many villages are still out of reach. The flooding has been worsening year by year." Father Ambrose Toppo, of Dibrugarh diocese, warns that in addition to food people need medicines to fight the various water-born infections and diseases that are already breaking out among flood victims. In Tezpur diocese, where food and medicines have already been distributed, Father Philip Barla calls for more relief funds "so that we can be more effective in helping the affected."

Not all local organisations mobilised immediately; some chose to wait. For instance, the Catholic Relief Service (CRS), the international social service arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the United States, announced its intention of intervening in three weeks time when government relief activities are expected to slow down.

Flooding started last month primarily in north-eastern India. Official figures put the death toll at 92 in Assam and 13 in Arunachal Pradesh, the two most affected states. The total number of dead stands at around 200.

Flooding has also killed hundreds of heads of livestock, wiped out 800,000 hectares of farmland, and swept away about 55,000 houses.

In addition to the death and the missing, many people and villages remain isolated. Many have sought refuge on higher elevations waiting for rescue by army and paramilitary units.

In the whole of South Asia, monsoon rains have killed this year about 400 people and left 20 million people homeless.

• india
• catholic
• church
• floods
• victims
• caritas