Perhaps the greatest disaster our country faced this year is the Kerala Floods, with non-stop torrential rains that swept away houses, buildings and over 300 lives. The Kerala Chief Minister’s Office tweeted, “Kerala is facing its worst flood in 100 years. 80 dams opened, 324 lives lost and 2,23,139 people are in about 1,500+ relief camps.”
In such terrible times, the country is coming together to help the flood victims. While people living far from Kerala are helping the state by providing essential supplies, the situation demands more manpower on the flooded grounds. The Army, rescue volunteers and the government are gathering as much help as they can from common people too.
A community of fishermen from Kerala is the latest to join the rescue mission.
Late on Thursday, over 100 fishermen took their boats in the flooded streets of Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram. They wanted to patrol the cities early on Friday.
T Peter, General Secretary, National Fisherworkers’ Forum, told Navbharat Times that this was the repayment of the help that Kerala people extended to them during the Ockhi cyclone disaster last year. He said, “Most fishermen who are engaged in the relief work have left their daily work to help out people. This isn’t a spontaneous one-time initiative; we are doing it with a consistent unity. We are using designated team leaders on the field and regional centres who are guiding us according to the recommendations of the revenue authority.”
What made the fishermen’s rescue mission truly important is the unique design of their boats. They take their boats out on rough tides and opposing flow every day for a living.
So they were able to easily raft over the water flow in Kerala, accelerated by open dam gates in several places.
Jack Mandela, who worked for this mission told the publication, “These boats can travel through any narrow streets. Each boat will carry 2-3 people- a driver, one person to watch the roads and one helper. Apart from them, we can easily fit about 10 people in the boat. We can take the boat wherever there’s a flooding of a minimum of 50 cm and their wooden poles help us to row the boat safely.”
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The fishermen have not just been navigating the streets to rescue people. They have collaborated with the police for proper rescue missions. With a supply of drinking water, life jackets and a searchlight in the boat, it is armoured with most essentials.
Kerala is asking for your help–any help to survive these floods. The heartwarming initiative of the fishermen can be your perfect inspiration to lend them a helping hand.
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)