Bengal Storm Amphan and COVID Relief
Donation protected
On May 20th, 2020, Cyclone Amphan hit the state of West Bengal in India. One of the deadliest storms in the history.
It completely swept away villages, destroyed crops, broken down houses, killed wild and domestic animals and humans.
The Sunderbans regions, house to only Bengal Tiger in the world has been hit very hard. This is on coast of Bay of Bengal and rich marshy land.
A sustained wind speed of 150 Miles/hr (twice the speed a car runs on a freeway) hit the state on a constant basis for hours. It has toppled houses, cars, uprooted trees, killed wildlife, have made thousands of people homeless.
The below pictures are taken by locals /volunteers on their cell phones.
A dead Royal Bengal Tiger found in sunderbans
Birds found dead
Villages completely submerged
Crops destroyed
Houses completely under water
Some Evacuation with COVID.
There is no Electricity, Water or Cell Network. Lot of these villages are inaccessible.
At present there are many regions with lack of
- Clean Water
- Food
- Housing
- No Cellular Network
- Electricity
- Clean Sanitation.
Lot of these villages are inaccessible and have been out of network. End of March India went into complete lockdown.
Keeping social distancing has been very hard, as these people do not have enough to eat, clean water to drink or any shelter at this point. It is summer with sweltering heat.
Need
The devastation on top of COVID 19 has made the situation extremely difficult. These people live in less than $3 a day and are well below the world poverty line. They have been without food, water and shelter for days now.
I am working with a team of volunteers in Kolkata and Bengal to provide direct help to villagers. These are students from colleges that are volunteering for help. The funds will be directly given to families.
First phase the team is going to give packets of food and water to sustain for next few days. Following that we will help provide the needed infrastructure and needed housing.
Here are two organizations that the money will be donated.
a) Spade Global - This comes from a recommendation from Tista Dutta a social worker for 30 years. They are an NGO working in 24 parganas. The Amphan project is detailed here. The expenses for the project are detailed here . The contact for us is Mr. Indrajit Dutt ([email redacted]). Contact Number - +91 8697973733
b) Andul Road Tenants Association, Howrah - Mr Soumit Mandal as ex Monk of Ram Krishna Mission and verified source of Rakesh Saha one of the co-host of this event is leading the work in the villages. They are going to help the affected poor families at South 24 Pargona due to devastating cyclone Amphan. They are trying to help approx 150 families living at the villages of "Kumirmari, "Sonakhali ", " Jharkhali " in the Basanti block. They have a food drive on June 6th. His Contact Number is +91 7003859657
The NGOs in India cannot take direct funds in USD. Indian Govt has imposed this restriction that they have imposed in 2018. The funds will be withdrawn to my (Shivaji Dutta) personal Bank Account in US and the equivalent Money will be paid by my family in India to the above NGOs Bank Account.
There will be deduction of 2.9% + 0.30 cents on each transaction taken by GoFundMe. The rest of the money will be withdrawn and transferred that day and transferred with the same Forex rate.
Please donate generously as this is the need for the hour.
Finance Update:
Donors : A total of 1462.37 has been deposited by GoFundMe. The money will distributed to the above NGO's this week.
Timing
The need of the hour is now. This is one of the poorest regions of India where the land is in backwaters of Bay of Bengal. Villagers live in bare minimum life style.
This is one of the best humanitarian help we can do.
About us:
Shivaji Dutta - Entrepreneur and a software engineer in Silicon Valley.
Rakesh Saha - Seasoned Silicon Valley Executive and Product Manager in multiple startups
Tista Dutta - Social Worker in India. Experienced in running multiple NGO and Rural Programs in India.
Rakesh and I work in SF Bay area. Tista is located in Gurgaon India.
Thank you for your help. Let us all join hands in the name of humanity
It completely swept away villages, destroyed crops, broken down houses, killed wild and domestic animals and humans.
The Sunderbans regions, house to only Bengal Tiger in the world has been hit very hard. This is on coast of Bay of Bengal and rich marshy land.
A sustained wind speed of 150 Miles/hr (twice the speed a car runs on a freeway) hit the state on a constant basis for hours. It has toppled houses, cars, uprooted trees, killed wildlife, have made thousands of people homeless.
The below pictures are taken by locals /volunteers on their cell phones.
A dead Royal Bengal Tiger found in sunderbans
Birds found dead
Villages completely submerged
Crops destroyed
Houses completely under water
Some Evacuation with COVID.
There is no Electricity, Water or Cell Network. Lot of these villages are inaccessible.
At present there are many regions with lack of
- Clean Water
- Food
- Housing
- No Cellular Network
- Electricity
- Clean Sanitation.
Lot of these villages are inaccessible and have been out of network. End of March India went into complete lockdown.
Keeping social distancing has been very hard, as these people do not have enough to eat, clean water to drink or any shelter at this point. It is summer with sweltering heat.
Need
The devastation on top of COVID 19 has made the situation extremely difficult. These people live in less than $3 a day and are well below the world poverty line. They have been without food, water and shelter for days now.
I am working with a team of volunteers in Kolkata and Bengal to provide direct help to villagers. These are students from colleges that are volunteering for help. The funds will be directly given to families.
First phase the team is going to give packets of food and water to sustain for next few days. Following that we will help provide the needed infrastructure and needed housing.
Here are two organizations that the money will be donated.
a) Spade Global - This comes from a recommendation from Tista Dutta a social worker for 30 years. They are an NGO working in 24 parganas. The Amphan project is detailed here. The expenses for the project are detailed here . The contact for us is Mr. Indrajit Dutt ([email redacted]). Contact Number - +91 8697973733
b) Andul Road Tenants Association, Howrah - Mr Soumit Mandal as ex Monk of Ram Krishna Mission and verified source of Rakesh Saha one of the co-host of this event is leading the work in the villages. They are going to help the affected poor families at South 24 Pargona due to devastating cyclone Amphan. They are trying to help approx 150 families living at the villages of "Kumirmari, "Sonakhali ", " Jharkhali " in the Basanti block. They have a food drive on June 6th. His Contact Number is +91 7003859657
The NGOs in India cannot take direct funds in USD. Indian Govt has imposed this restriction that they have imposed in 2018. The funds will be withdrawn to my (Shivaji Dutta) personal Bank Account in US and the equivalent Money will be paid by my family in India to the above NGOs Bank Account.
There will be deduction of 2.9% + 0.30 cents on each transaction taken by GoFundMe. The rest of the money will be withdrawn and transferred that day and transferred with the same Forex rate.
Please donate generously as this is the need for the hour.
Finance Update:
Donors : A total of 1462.37 has been deposited by GoFundMe. The money will distributed to the above NGO's this week.
Timing
The need of the hour is now. This is one of the poorest regions of India where the land is in backwaters of Bay of Bengal. Villagers live in bare minimum life style.
This is one of the best humanitarian help we can do.
About us:
Shivaji Dutta - Entrepreneur and a software engineer in Silicon Valley.
Rakesh Saha - Seasoned Silicon Valley Executive and Product Manager in multiple startups
Tista Dutta - Social Worker in India. Experienced in running multiple NGO and Rural Programs in India.
Rakesh and I work in SF Bay area. Tista is located in Gurgaon India.
Thank you for your help. Let us all join hands in the name of humanity
Organizer
Shivaji Dutta
Organizer
Castro Valley, CA
