In the past week, as rains brought life in Kodagu to a standstill, there has been no dearth of compassion and kindness towards the flood-affected people. There have been many gestures to help those suffering from the incessant rains and its resultant destruction, and people going out of their way to aid the rehabilitation of flood victims.
Inmates of the Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru and Bellary (Ballari) Central Jail have decided that all the inmates of the central prisons will give up their non-vegetarian meals this Friday to contribute to the CM’s Relief Fund.
According to modest estimates, the money saved will be around Rs 2,000,00 – Rs 3,000,00.
A senior prison department official said that a decision on this will be taken by the Additional Director General of Prisons on Thursday after a communication of the respective jail superintendents.
This is not the first time that the prison has witnessed such a gesture. In 2004, the inmates of Parappana Agrahara had decided to skip non-vegetarian meals for four weeks to raise money for the victims of the 2004 tsunami. The cost of a non-vegetarian meal for 4,500 prisoners then was pegged at Rs 2,000,00.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy earlier this week visited relief centres set up in the district to overlook rehabilitation process following an aerial survey of the damage.
Individuals, organisations, educational institutions, and political parties from Bengaluru and several neighbouring areas have pitched in and hit the ground in helping those in need alongside the authorities.
Earlier all MLAs, MPs and MLCs in the state pledged to donate their salaries for the cause of rehabilitation. Similarly, police officials, state transport officials had also pledged one day’s salaries for the same cause.
The rains which had turned severe since August 12 in the hilly district had claimed lives of at least 12 persons with many others reported missing. However, with rains receding since Sunday, efforts are primarily on to rehabilitate victims with as many as 845 houses damages and close to 6,000 people taking shelter in relief camps. There has been massive damage to public infrastructure with 110 km of national highways, 1,550 km of state highways and 123 km of roads damaged.