2015 | Chennai and Cuddalore Rains – Relief, Rescue and Rehabilitation

In the first week of December 2015, Chennai saw unprecedented flooding as a result of heavy rainfall. The floods devastated many lives and caused untold destruction to properties. More than 500 people were killed and over 1.8 million people were displaced. Citizens banded together to rescue others stranded in their homes as the water levels rose to alarming levels. Bal Utsav responded with the relief and rescue efforts in Chennai and Cuddalore. 24 tonnes of relief material was sent to Chennai as part of this exercise. With the incessant rains having destroyed many families, communities, and residential areas in Chennai and Cuddalore, there was an adverse psychological impact especially on children and adolescents due to a disaster of this magnitude, known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

This called for special attention to the particularly vulnerable situation of children and women, with special regard to the malnutrition and under-nutrition of tens of thousands of children and the importance of bringing children back to school, while factoring the increasing violence and growing trafficking of women and children from affected areas. Bal Utsav rolled out a multi pronged approach to channelise rehabilitation efforts to the vulnerable population of children and build interventions to revitalise Government schools (where most children from underserved backgrounds study) and use the same as a mechanism to help the children stay in schools.

Bal Utsav also provided Psycho-social Counselling for Children in difficult circumstances; as the children coming from socially & economically disadvantaged backgrounds are those who are often rendered helpless and are affected most by difficult environments.