Indian Church Joins State in Flood Relief

September 27, 2011: The Church has pressed its health and relief agencies into action as floods hit the eastern Indian state of Orissa for the second time this month. Seventeen people have died and dozens more remain missing as flood waters inundated the state over the weekend.
Flooding earlier this month claimed 52 lives. Now two-thirds of the state’s 30 districts are under water, affecting nearly 2.2 million residents. Weekend floods struck Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Keonjhar districts.
The federal government has deployed air force and navy personnel along with the National Disaster Rapid Force to rescue residents trapped in flooded villages. Caritas India, the social arm of the local Church, as well as the Catholic Relief Service have joined relief and rescue operations.
“No matter how much relief materials we distribute, they are nothing in view of the huge calamity facing Orissa,” Sailendra Pattnaik, a senior program officer at CRS, said today. Pattnaik said the Church aid agencies are collaborating with government agencies and local NGOs.
Orissa Governor MC Bhandare has helped distribute Church relief materials and “we are in constant engagement of local administration for this,” Pattnaik added. Francis Barla, who oversees Caritas operations in Orissa, and doctors from St John’s Medical College in Bangalore have come to give assistance as health camps have become “quite critical” for flood-hit areas.
The Catholic Hospital Association of India, the largest network of Church health workers, has also sent in volunteers. Catholic Charities, the social service wing of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, is also collaborating with the Orissa Forum for Social Action to support victims of the latest flooding. Sister Vani, a health worker, said relief workers are also attending to several snake-bite victims. According to her, Church workers are assisting in areas where government agencies have yet to reach. William Wilson, a physician in the St John’s Medical College team, said he is treating some 300 patients daily.
“It is quite gratifying that we are able to help these [suffering] people,” he told ucanews.com.