Nearly six batches of relief materials from Vellore, Ranipet sent to Chennai

VELLORE: Nearly six loads of relief materials left from Vellore and Ranipet districts on Wednesday for helping Chennai residents who are limping back to normalcy following the onslaught of Cyclone Michaung.

They are spontaneous outpouring of relief materials for the affected. Though Vellore Collector P Kumaravel Pandian sought help from the public only after 9.30 pm through a media release on Tuesday night, many organisations anticipating this, already collected the needed relief materials and the Vellore administration was able to send two minivans of materials on Wednesday morning itself.

“We were awaiting the request from the district administration as only they through official sources will be able to send the materials to the most affected areas still marooned in Chennai and surrounding districts,” said Vellore Traders Association president RP Gnanavel.

The first two vehicles carrying 2020 bread packets, 3200 buns, 5400 water bottles, blankets 10853, 5 bags rice, 1950 blankets, 1500 mugs/buckets, 100 pieces each of soap, tooth powder and tooth brushes, 650 mats and bed sheets and 780 light towels were flagged off by the Collector in the presence of officials. With the severity of the aftermath yet to come down, the next load was already being readied, officials said.

A third vehicle carrying additional relief materials was flagged off in the afternoon. The Katpadi Red Cross supplied water bottles.

In Ranipet district, it was the trader organisations, which volunteered to collect relief materials on their own. Traders from small towns like Kaveripakkam, Panapakkam and Ocheri, all on the Chennai– Bengaluru National Highway, “packed the collected relief material in boxes, labelled them and handed them over to revenue officials in each area,” said a farmer association office-bearer R Subash of Siruvalayam village.