Money can be transferred to CM’s disaster relief fund; there are many social media groups which can help you send relief materials to the state.
Bengaluru: Citizens across the country are using social media to support the relief and rescue efforts initiated in the flood-hit Kerala. Various state and central agencies, including the army, navy and the air force, are working on a war footing to shift people from critical zones to safer places and provide them food and shelter.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said, “For the people of Kerala, the road to recovery is going to be a long one. Your help, no matter how small, will be a step to restore normalcy.”
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an assistance of Rs 500 crore, the Kerala CM had requested an immediate assistance of Rs 2,000 crore.
Here is how you can help the flood-affected people in this southern state.
Relief funds
The main recipient of funds from citizens is the Kerala Chief Minister Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF).
Account name: Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Funds
Bank: State Bank of India
Branch: City Branch, Thiruvananthapuram
IFSC: SBIN0070028
PAN: AAAGD0584M
Account type: Savings
SWIFT Code: SBININBBT08
Website: http://www.cmdrf.kerala.gov.in/
All donations are exempt from tax.
Helpline numbers
District helpline numbers are active and are the first point of contact for information and plea for aid. Numbers in WhatsApp-friendly formats are:
Citizen initiatives
Social media has brought out a number of citizen initiatives for rescue and aid in Kerala.
A master spreadsheet has been created by the people behind on the website.
This data can also be viewed on Google Maps, updated in real time with information on shelter, drinking water, helplines, medicines, transportation, essentials, and more here:
WhatsApp groups
Citizen rescue teams across districts have set up WhatsApp groups that are open to public to join.
Overall Kerala coordination team -1
Overall Kerala coordination team -2
Hashtags and Twitter accounts
All tweets and Facebook posts asking and offering help are collated under the hashtags: #KeralaFloods #KeralaSOS #KeralaRain #KeralaFloodRelief
Accounts actively tweeting about Kerala can be found on this twitter list:
https://twitter.com/sandygrains/lists/keralafloodsupdates
Tweets
Here are some tweets with contact information of volunteers on the ground:
Aluva
https://twitter.com/vinayaravind/status/1030699772728958977
Contact on whatsapp: +91-9008671517 #KeralaFloods #KeralaFloodRelief #Aluva pic.twitter.com/MUVrIhlnss
— Moosa (@mooserbaer) August 18, 2018
Chengannur
https://twitter.com/vinayaravind/status/1030532769040855040
ALERT: CHENGANNUR verified numbers
Fiberboat
Stebano 7907518627
Jackson 9048923183
Roy Rose Joseph 8129256426#KeralaFloods #KeralaRains #KeralaRescue
— Jay🎗🇮🇳 (@JayGooner_) August 17, 2018
Ernakulam
https://twitter.com/la_ven_der_14/status/1030513814649720832
Food is available in Perumbavoor (Ernakulam district). Please reach out on – +919947563404. Will be available tomorrow also. This is verified.
— Vinay Aravind 📷 (@vinayaravind) August 17, 2018
Citizens offering help are also following specific format for gathering rescue requests, like so:
Please send me the details of verified cases still to be rescude. I am in continuous contact with Helicopter Rescue Team and can help you reach your cases to the official working on it. Only verified cases since the effort is concentrated on the right place. #KeralaFloodRelief
— Akhil (@UkkenTintu) August 18, 2018
Citizens have also been gathering relief from different cities on Twitter where those who are interested can contribute:
More collection centres in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/VznzVr7g8m
— S.Kaarthik (@KaarthikSwami) August 17, 2018
Collection centres open now in Mumbai. Help in every way possible. Do for Kerala. #KeralaFloods pic.twitter.com/BlxTd7rSQZ
— christina 🌵 (@_christinasimon) August 16, 2018
#SOSKerala
For Bangalore people ,
we can help Kerala pic.twitter.com/IotbpBUoPw— Shreha (Sankalp Inst) (@shreha211985) August 16, 2018
Brand initiatives
Amazon: Contribute goods to any of three NGOs — Habitat for Humanity, World Vision, Goonj — by purchasing directly from Amazon here.
BigBasket: Contribute rice, dal, and sugar through the NGO Goonj here, with BigBasket contributing 20 per cent of the cost for this essential bundle.
Ola: For every private ride that is taken by non-corporates, Rs 5 is donated to CM’s Relief Fund
PayTM: Crowdfunding page for easy donation to CM’s Relief Fund: The organisation will also match contributions rupee for rupee. It has added an icon ‘Kerala Floods’ on its mobile app and website.
PepsiCo: Relief camps are being provided with water and oatmeal.
https://twitter.com/Kerala_floods/status/1030502272172666881
NGOs and International aids
Khalsa Aid (UK)
With inputs from Rahiba Parveen and Regina Mihindukulasuriya