A public appeal to support relief efforts in Leh

New Delhi, August 08: Two days after flashfloods and cloudbursts wreaked havoc in Leh and surrounding villages, Save the Children fears that the toll could climb to over 1000 going by eye-witness reports with several villages surrounding Leh town remaining inaccessible and cut off from the rest of the world.  “As the lead NGO working on the ground in Leh, we are struggling to respond to this tragedy. We urgently and immediately need 5000 blankets, 5000 hygiene kits and tarpaulins. We appeal to the public to come forward to strengthen our relief efforts as the immediate and short-term needs of the affected population are huge,” Thomas Chandy, CEO, Save the Children, said. Save the Children is coordinating its relief efforts with international medical humanitarian NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres and local NGOs in Leh. “Together with MSF, we are despatching supplies of blankets and hygiene kits to Leh immediately. We are thankful to Jet Airways and Kingfisher airlines for airlifting the much-needed supplies to Leh,” Mr. Chandy said.  People can call or SMS +918898619953/+91 9811320906. Alternatively, you can go to www.savethechildren.in to donate. Rescue efforts are complicated by the fact that the majority of buildings in Leh are constructed using mud bricks and mud mortar. Finding bodies beneath the flattened debris is hampered by the muddy slush. Local people are extremely traumatized and fearful of more landslides and flooding. “Our team in Ladakh is working in extremely difficult circumstances as they also have to cope with missing family members, colleagues and friends. We have families of colleagues taking refuge in the mountains or in the local mosque for fear of more floods,” Mr. Chandy said.  He added: “Save the Children has been working in Ladakh for over 40 years and we have not seen a tragedy of this scale in this beautiful region of Jammu and Kashmir.” http://www.savethechildren.in/index.html CitizenSBI Blog appeals to all its readers to donate for the flash flood affected children of Ladakh.