In what is being described as the worst-ever flood to hit Kerala, many parts of the state are submerged and more than 54,000 people have been rendered homeless. Reports suggest that the incessant rains have also claimed more than 30 lives.
Day in and day out reports highlight dam reservoirs and rivers overflowing, large sections of highways collapsing, and homes being swept away.
Amidst all this chaos, stories like that of Vishnu Kachhawa, a blanket merchant who hails from Madhya Pradesh, will restore your faith in humanity.
Vishnu regularly travels to and from Haryana, purchasing blankets for sale in Iritty, in Kannur district of Kerala, as per this report in The Week. He lives in Iritty with his family, where he sells the blankets door-to-door.
This time around, until he reached Kerala he had no idea about the floods there.
According to a report in Onmanorama, he discovered the true extent of the disaster when he reached the Iritty Taluk office.
When officials told him the situation, he decided to donate his entire stock of blankets to the Collector, for the people in a flood-relief camp at Adichukootti Government School, Mangad.
“I thought he was joking. I asked him how he would earn his living if he donated his blankets. But Vishnu was adamant. We took him to the Adichukootti school where a new camp had opened.” an official told the media.
“Kannur is my second home. Kerala has given me everything—a place to stay, a livelihood to support my family and raise my children. I gave them what I have,” Vishnu told Onmanorama.
People like Vishnu are true heroes who chose to put others before themselves.
Kerala is going through a difficult time, but the state has seen many heroes.
In another article on The Better India, we brought to you another heroic act caught on camera by a News 18 journalist. Kanayya Kumar, a rescue official, was seen running across a bridge with a child in his arms. Within a matter of a few minutes after the rescue the bridge collapsed.
You can watch the video here.
Video going viral in Kerala
A rescue official ran across a bridge and saved a child’s life, few minutes before the bridge went under water in Idukki. A real comrade! pic.twitter.com/hQDZFJaKt0
— Nidheesh M K (@mknid) August 10, 2018
A rescue official ran across a bridge and saved a child’s life, few minutes before the bridge went under water in Idukki. A real comrade! If you are from Kerala and would like us to highlight the exceptional work or deed being done by any person or persons during this difficult period, please do write to us at contact@thebetterindia.com.
A good deed must always be reported!
(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)