UK-based Khalsa Aid brings hot food and clean water to people in Odisha reeling from Cyclone Fani
UK-based non-profit organisation Khalsa Aid has brought food and drinking water to over 5,000 people affected by Cyclone Fani in Odisha.
No matter how well prepared, natural disasters always test people, the administration, and the infrastructure. But what they also bring out is the human spirit to help. This could not be more true for UK-based Khalsa Aid. Members of the non-profit organisation set up relief camps in the cities of Bhubaneshwar and Puri – which were ravaged by Cyclone Fani – and have been providing food and drinking water to those who have been displaced. A team of 15 volunteers had arrived at Puri, which saw the maximum damage.
The team from Khalsa Aid has been coordinating its efforts along with the district administration and local gurudwaras to provide lunch and dinner to about 5,000 people.
"We have set up our base 60-70 km away from Puri. We prepare everything there and take the meals in mobile kitchens, which travel to different villages and distribute food," Director of Khalsa Aid India Amarpreet Singh told News 18.
Khalsa Aid providing food to people affected by Cyclone Fani in Odisha (Image: News18)
Following the massive evacuation by the local government before the cyclone made landfall, the death toll in the state has been relatively low but there has been much damage to the infrastructure in the state.
Also read: In the wake of Cyclone Fani, Odisha emerges a role model in disaster preparedness
Outlook reports that over one lakh electric poles were rendered defunct and communications were down as mobile towers suffered damage.
Also, contamination of water made it unfit for drinking.
“As per the orders of the Collector, we are going to various places and serving the people. We will also go to Chilika and Konark for assessment and will take steps to help the affected people,” said one of the team members to Odisha TV.
Also read: Meet the Odisha cops who braved the fury of Cyclone Fani and rescued many
This is not the first time that the organisation has come to Odisha’s aid. In 1999, when the super cyclone struck the state leaving over 10,000 people dead, Khalsa Aid volunteers had responded with food and aid. In fact, over the last 20 years, citizens in a number of Indian states - including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttarakhand – have benefitted from the organisation’s services.
Khalsa Aid was founded in 1999 by Ravinder Singh, who was moved by the Kosovo refugee crisis. The members believe in “recognising the humanity in us all, and reaching out to those in need, regardless of race, religion, borders.”
Khalsa Aid has volunteered in over 20 countries across the globe. A majority of their projects centre on refugee crisis management in countries such as Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. They have also worked on famine relief operations in Malawi, Kenya and Somalia, as well as civil war torn countries such as Yemen, Libya, and Albania.
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