Victims battle new problem as some miscreants hoard essential goods

The recent floods brought out the best in Chennaiites as citizens selflessly threw themselves in the way of risk, to help bring relief to those affected. But what the floods also brought out was a survival instinct to stay alive and kicking, at all costs, regardless of the harm it brought to others. People from across the city have been witnesses to acts of hoarding and instances of individuals, unaffected by the floods making the most of the free relief materials to stock up on their supplies. 

Seethamal B, a resident of Adyar tells us how people in her locality rampantly took advantage of the relief efforts. She says, “The watchman from our building asked his relatives and friends from various districts to come all the way to Chennai to collect free relief items. They came in hordes from places like Madurai, Trichy and Pudukkottai and joined locals while seeking relief. They would go from place to place in Chennai, hoarding up on goods like blankets, mats, pillows, toiletries, nighties, sanitary napkins and medicines and taking them to their hometowns. People have also reported on how several relief items meant for needy citizens around Chennai have now made their way into households that were never in need of materials. 

G Sakthivel, an engineering student hailing from Kilpauk, who recently joined forces with his college authorities to distribute relief materials says, “While the idea of distributing food items and daily essentials to flood victims is a noble gesture, even the educated are greedy. While conducting relief work at our institution, I found quite a few faculty members from our college, loading up their cars with two or three cartons filled with around 30 packaged drinking water bottles each, to be taken home.”

He adds, “Similarly, large packets of bread and biscuits, bought in bulk, for flood victims in severely inundated areas ended up in households that had absolutely no shortage to speak of.’’

A small yet insidious black market operation has sprung up in the city slums, where relief material is being resold for a small profit. 

Horlicks bottles for Rs 50, instant noodles at Rs 10-12, soaps at Rs 5 and a tube of toothpaste for Rs 20. No, this is not a new government driven subsidy scheme, but a snapshot of the rate card for re-sold relief material. In the slums around Saidapet and Kotturpuram, a thriving business model has emerged where relief material that was distributed to the rain-affected is being sold at throw-away rates.

Taking advantage of the generosity of volunteers, a few slum-dwellers place all their family members in the relief line and collect as many items as possible. After catering to the needs of the family, the excess items are sold for very low rates. Mariammal (name changed) is the matriarch of one such family. “I have 11 people at home. Last week, several groups gave out blankets. We all collected almost 15 blankets- I kept 5 and sold 10 for Rs 50 each. We need money, not blankets, so I don’t have a choice,” she says.

According to her, many families are engaged in this kind of trade. Cooked food doesn’t have too many takers, but Horlicks and other instant food that came from some foreign NGOs are very useful. Soaps, raw rice, tur dal, tetra-packs of milk and mosquito repellents are most sought-after. 

According to a source, these families have a network where they are immediately alerted about what kind of relief material is being distributed in a particular locality, and they all immediately rush there to collect whatever they can.