WVI chalks out Rs 9-crore plans for tsunami victims

World Vision India (WVI), a child focused, relief and development organisation working in partnership with the poor in India, will spend Rs 9 crore to lend a helping hand to the victims of the deadly tsunami in south India.

The organisation has set up an emergency action group consisting of a national director, relief and operations director and has chalked out a strategy to respond to this disaster.

According to a statement in a press release, Jayakumar Christian, national director - WVI, said, "In Tamil Nadu, a gruesome picture unfolded with more than 2,300 people killed in the Nagapattinam district. World Vision's assessment team that visited the city found that more than 60,000 people who had lost their homes and were taking shelter in marriage halls and other public places. We are confident that the assistance provided by World Vision would provide some relief to these victims."

World Vision India's strategy at this point is to respond in two phases to the disaster, the first phase is to meet the immediate needs of people in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry and Kerala who are affected by the disaster.

The victims of the tsunami would be provided with cooked food in camps and relief sites where they are located. This phase would last for the first three days and the first two consignments of distribution have already been dispatched.

The second phase would primarily target 40,000 families with a distribution of a seven-day ration pack that consists of 10 kg rice, 2 kg lentils, 1 kg cooking oil, kitchen utensils, blankets, bed sheets, clothes for children as well as adults and basic medicines. This distribution will reach 1,000 families in Kerala, 7,000 families in Andhra Pradesh and 32,000 families in Tamil Nadu.