Mumbai: The Archdiocese of Bombay has donated over 46 tons of relief material to the flood-affected in Mahad through a coordinated effort by its churches and parishioners.
Mahad, a city in Raigad district, is some 170 km south of Mumbai.
The St Francis Church located in Mahad has been the focal point to receive supplies from the Archdiocese. The Jan Kalyan Trust, which is part of the church and had helped out with relief work during a landslide in 2005, has also received the supplies, and is distributing them.
Speaking to Mid-Day, Father Nigel Barrett, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Bombay, said, “We received a distress call last week that relief supplies were urgently needed in Mahad; the people living there have suffered tremendous devastation to both life and property. They don’t have any food as all the shops have washed away…the closest grain shop is located 25 km away. I used the Rosary Church located at Dockyard as a base for the first round of collection. The materials were sent there, then packed and sent to the Jan Kalyan trust in Mahad. We made a list of 15-16 items that were needed and urged parishioners to donate whatever they could. We managed to collect a total of 46 tonnes of relief material that is now being distributed to the flood-affected.”
Barrett said that the items donated were primarily grains, milk, masala powders, sugar, tea, etc. “However, drinking water was of primary concern. We managed to collect and donate a total of 2,00,000 bottles. What also helped us was that parishioners could use e-commerce websites to buy whatever they wished to donate and send it directly to us at the dockyard.”
Amid the material collected are 10 tonnes of rice, 10 tonnes dal, five tonnes pulses, five tonnes sugar, 15,000 litres of oil, and five tonnes of biscuits. Furthermore, a community kitchen run by the Jan Kalyan Trust has also been cooking 500+ meals and disturbing them every day to residents of Mahad.
Father Joseph Gonsalves, director of the Archdiocese-run Centre for Social Action, who has been appointed as coordinator for the relief program in Mahad, said, “As of now we are focusing only on Mahad. Individual parishioners and churches have sent us relief material which we are now distributing.”
Fr Barrett added, “Distribution of ration, food, and water was stage one. Our next step will involve collecting and disturbing other essentials such as utensils, bed sheets, blankets, etc.”
https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/archdiocese-of-bombay-sends-46-tonnes-of-relief-material-to-mahad-23185852