The Indian community in Malta has raised more than €3,800 to help the victims of the floods that swept through the southwestern Kerala state earlier this month.
Considered to be the worst floods in Kerala in a century, their death toll has so far risen to almost 200, while more than 200,000 people, including children, have been forced into relief camps, where they are living on the bare essentials, if any at all.
A spokesman for the Malta Malayalee Association, which gathers the Indian community living in Malta, said the sum had been collected over the weekend, mainly last Saturday during an activity organised in front of Parliament in Valletta.
“We’ve had friends in Malta who have their families there. Some of them have lost their houses. We wanted to do our little bit to help them,” he said.
The floods started at the beginning of the month, killing 164 people, some in landslides, with about 223,000 people forced into 1,568 relief camps.
A Reuters witness on board a relief helicopter in Chengannur town in the south of the state said that people stranded on rooftops had been seen waving desperately at navy aircraft.
Death toll of 164, and about 223,000 forced into relief camps
“The town looked like an island dotted with houses and cars submerged in muddy floodwaters and downed coconut trees,” said the witness.
Kerala has been hit with 37 per cent more rainfall than normal since the beginning of this monsoon, the Meteorological Department said. Some plantations have also been inundated. The state is a major producer of rubber, tea, coffee and spices such as black pepper and cardamom.
The spokesman said that some of the money will go towards the official Kerala Flood Relief Fund that was opened by the Indian authorities to receive help from all over the world.
Some money collected over the weekend will go towards NGOs in India, which will buy clothes and food for the victims and help them rebuild their homes.
Asked if Malayalee will accept donations of clothes, blankets and other items from Malta, the spokesman said it is very expensive to send the items to Kerala. “Money is the most inexpensive and most effective,” he said.