Diocese of Kolkata Distributes Relief Materials to 130 Flood Hit Families

Believers Church Diocese of Kolkata held a relief supply distribution program in a village on the 13th and 14th of August 2016 where relief materials were distributed to 130 flood hit families.

In the wake of unceasing monsoon rain in West Bengal, thousands of people living in low lying areas have been rendered homeless. The village where the diocese organized the relief distribution program also is severely affected by floods and hundreds of houses have been waterlogged. The people here are very poor and they have been living in huts made up of mud walls. This land also has been a shelter to many poor widows who earn their living through begging and rag picking. When the floods battered this village and nearby areas, volunteers of the church swung into help the affected families. They assisted the villagers in moving old widows and physically challenged persons to safer places.

Bishop Dr. Juria Bardhan, the bishop of Diocese of Kolkata also immediately visited the flood hit places and comforted the despairing families and decided to provide relief materials to help meet their immediate needs.

During the distribution program, the diocese distributed tarpaulins to 50 families and dry ration and some necessary items to 80 other families. A total of 800 kilogram rice, 80 kg pulses, 320 packets of washing powder and bathing soaps, 400 packets of biscuits and puffed rice were distributed that day.

These beneficiaries were from the most affected families who had lost their houses and household items and were in need of urgent relief materials. In some of the areas the water has not subsided yet and people are still staying in relief camps. The help from the church has meant a lot to these flood hit families.

“Words are not enough to express my gratitude to the church for this kind help,” said Jhuma Biswas, a 45-year-old widow. When it rained continuously for a week, her small hut was filled with water. In no time the flood waters destroyed her hut, reducing it to a pile of mud. She was heartbroken, but, at the right time, the church gave her a tarpaulin.