UAE residents do their bit for Indian flood victims

UAE residents do their bit for Indian flood victims Nivriti Butalia / 29 June 2013 Aid continues to pour in from local communities in the UAE for the victims of floods in the Indian state of Uttrakhand that have washed away hundreds and left thousands stranded. The Uttrakhand Association in Dubai has been working tirelessly to raise funds to send to the worst-affected areas, with Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde saying he expected the death toll to rise over the current 1,000 several days ago. More than 10,000 people remain stranded. Association general secretary Sanjay Singh Thapa said he was in constant touch with people from his hometown. Contact persons Those interested in contributing may contact the following representatives in the UAE: Dinesh Bhatt 
(055-9272318), Dubai Deepak Dhami 
(050-2454924), Abu Dhabi Devendra Singh Koranga (050-5103334), UAE Atul Tiwari 
(055-9029859), UAE Niraj Kumar Joshi 
(050-6669283), Ras Al Khaimah Sandeep Rautela 
(050-3506273), Fujairah Navin Singh Kathayat 
(050-6580214), Sharjah Girish Pant (050-9947548), Al Nahda, Sharjah Jaiprakash Kothari (050-3786112), Al Nahda, Sharjah Kailash Chandra Joshi (0506401142), Al Nahda, Dubai Sanjay Singh Thapa (050-4556736), Al Nahda, Dubai Vivek Bahuguna (055-6587322), International City Anup Jakhmola 
(056-1148479), JLT and Dubai Marina Capt Anil Agarwal (055-4560236), JLT and Dubai Marina Dharam Singh Rana 
(050-3501845), Al Ain “Dharchula is one of the worst hit by floods in the Kali river. Thousands of the people lost their homes and their property…it takes lot of time and money to build a good house. This calamity has swept everything; even land doesn’t exist anymore since it has all been washed away by the flood. Hundreds of people are stranded in the villages. At least around 60 villages that are high up in the Himalayas in the vicinity of Mount Panchachuli and Om Parvat and Kailash Manasarovar are cut off from the rest of the world.” From their members in the emirates, the Uttrakhand Association has collected over Dh25,000, with more still coming in. A social worker and mother of two college-going children, Geeta Chandola left Dubai for Delhi on Friday evening and will travel to the affected areas with Dh7,000 that had earlier been collected and handed over to her. She will spend a month in Uttrakhand helping out the victims and distributing clothes and medicines and blankets and footwear. As money pours in, it will be transferred to her Indian bank account and from that fund she will buy what the victims immediately need. In Abu Dhabi, Rahul Dutta, a 29-year-old employee of Emirates Aluminum, has collected Dh1,475 from 10-15 of his colleagues including locals who immediately responded with cash donations to his email plea for relief for flood victims. Uttrakhand Association president Devendra Singh Koranga said money and aid in the form of warm clothing and footwear was coming in every day. On Thursday, the day Khaleej Times printed an article on the subject, he received about 35 calls from people asking how they can help. nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Taylor Scott International