In General

Second round of Relief Work

We decided to use the second part of the relief funds on fishing nets. There were many things that we could’ve bought but we zeroed in on the fishing nets for two main reasons. A) This was what the fisherfolks had requested as top priority and B) We wanted to buy something that helps them in the longer run.

During our trip to the village last week, we had asked for the exact specifications of the net as well as the places to buy them. I was glad that one of the places is in T.Nagar. The photo that you see above is that of Chidambaram Fish nets Ltd. Ramesh, the guy who owns this company is a wholesale dealer and he was kind enough to give us a hefty discount. He also supported the idea of giving relief to this particular village because they weren’t getting as much as the others.

This is one type of net that we bought. It’s called ‘Pacha Kuthi Valai’. It’s specifications can look pretty technical for laymen like us. Try this… ‘Thankoos#15, 44mm, Ulnet 150’ !

The second type of net we bought is called ‘Kaanankazhuthi Valai’. This net is used to catch a particular type of fish which is available in the deep seas.

The packed nets are being loaded into the car.

On Sunday afternoon, I started off to Puthu Nemmeli Kuppam, accompanied by Siva Kumar from Computer Horizons. He had collected money from his company and wanted to personally help and make sure that the funds directly benefit the villagers. So he pitched in funds for the fishing nets as well.

On the way, we got off the road to head towards the ocean. We saw mangled nets around which started to wilt. We understood why the fishermen had badly wanted new nets.

While going towards the village we were astounded to see water under the Muthukadu lake missing. Atleast in some parts. I have never seen this place without water and this kinda zapped us.

We continued our drive ahead and reached the Puthu Nemmeli Kuppam reief camp. We noticed that two charity organizations had set up shop there to constantly monitor the relief work they were providing.

The nets being unloaded from the car. Parasuram, the person who earlier helped me in touring the place was at hand to help unload the nets. For me, he has become a trusted point of contact.

We noticed some developments in the relief camp since last week. The government is laying new roads, even if it is just mud roads, for relief vehicles to come inside to distribute the relief materials.

While we were there, we noticed the Lions Club of T.Nagar had come to distribute school materials and hygiene products like soad and toothpaste to children.

While relief materials were coming in, we also noticed the place becoming dirtier. There was an alarming amount of plastic garbage. What was worse was the villagers were burning these dumps to get rid of them. I guess this is the negative spinoff of relief that we don’t realize.

While returning back, we were again zapped to see water fill up under the Muthukadu bridge. In a matter of two hours, it the backwater area had filled up.