Brief summary of activities so far

Vedics volunteers in India have done the following so far

• visited a few areas outside of chennai to firsthand understand the immediate and future needs of the affected people; the three areas are (i) cuddalore area (ii) chidambaram area, and (iii) kalpakkam area; a volunteer is now proceeding the nagappattinam.
• contacted officials in the affected areas to understand what is being done/planned

Here are the key things that Vedics India volunteers are reporting

• In the areas visited, there is no shortage of food and clothing; in fact, in some areas, food is available in plenty and is going waste due to a variety of reasons.
• Local charities/organizations and most of all, local people have taken great interest in immediate needs - food/clothing/medicine; for example, in the kiLLai village area near chidambaram, Raja muthiah college has made extensive arrangements for food and clothing.
• The most immediate thing needed is temporary shelter; people's houses have been washed away, and it may take a while before they can get new land and build(rebuild) their houses.
• Though several relief organizations have started building temporary shelters in many areas, the affected areas are so vast that many areas are without any help

Vedics India is pursuing the following plans for immediate help:

• Building of a temporary shelter in the kiLLai area for affected people; a local person has agreed to donate the land for temporary use, and the local officials have supported the building of temporary shelters; one of our volunteers who is a retired engineer, has preliminarily estimated the cost to be 1.5 lakh rupees to build this shelter (shelter, toilets etc.); the field volunteers will pursue this activity, and get more detailed estimates soon;
• As we get more reports from the nagai area, we will determine if there is a need to build more shelters in other places, and take up the activity as our resources allow.

For long term rehabilitation, Vedics is planning to

• Help families to settle down - this means building of a new house, buying household goods (utensils, stove, books/notebooks for children, dresses of the right size etc.)
• The cost per helping a family to settle down is estimated as below
• House (hall, one room, kitchen, toilet; with cement flooring, good roof) = approx. 50,000 rupees
• Household utensils, books/notebooks etc. = approx. 15,000 rupees per family
• Support for a few months = approx. 10-15,000 rupees per family
• Total cost to help rehabilitate a family = approx. 70 - 75,000 rupees.
• Vedics India will try to help as many families as possible with this. The plan is to take up a village (or a few streets), and then help a group of families to settle;
• logistical issues include the allotment of new land for the families (government will do this) if the land has been washed away.
• Volunteers will stay in the areas where help is being provided, and will help with the work.