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Relief Projects
Flood Relief In Bihar (Recent Update - 3rd Sept, 2008) 
Most part of the Madhepura and Saharsa districts in Bihar is inundated and under water after the river Kosi washed away its bank and flowed
over four districts. Millions of people became homeless and spending
their days under trees and open sky. The sannyasins and volunteers of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, after setting up a relief centre on 26th August at Sarbanarayan Singh Ramkumar Singh College, Saharsa, are distributing cooked food to nearly 10,000 flood-affected people at Cachra and Karaya villages of Sourbazar Block and remote villages of Biratpur School area of Sonbarsa Block in Saharsa district and Sabaila Sinheswar etc. villages of Madhepura district. Dry food stuff of chira, gur, sattoo, baby food, clothing, polythene, tarpaulins etc.
are also being distributed to nearly 5000 flood-affected people daily.
Relief materials are also being distributed among the flood affected people who have taken shelter-houses at 28 relief centres setup by Govt. at Saharsa town. Besides, Sangha's relief work has been expanded in Purnia district also.
Flood Relief in Gujrat
The Bharat Sevashram Sangha through its Surat Branch, has undertaken extensive relief work in the flood affected areas of Surat in Gujart for the last few days. The Sangha has already distributed cooked food to nearly 3500 people at Katargam, Gurukul Vidhyapith, Milan Mandir at Annie Besant Road. Monks and volunteers from Ahmedabad, Kalol, Dediapara, Baroda, Mumbai branches of the Sangha have also reached the flood affected areas and strengthened Sangha's relief work there. The Sangha is distributing cooked food among the flood affected people by boat to different villages like Kesar, Chabrabhata, Amroli, Uttran, Monj Kalia, etc.The Sangha has also made arrangement for the treatment of the flood victims.
The Sangha’s first disaster
relief project can be traced to 1923 with the Bengal Famine. Through the last 89
years the Sangha has responded to natural calamities such as the West Bengal
Floods (1978, 1998, and 2001), Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1980), Cyclone in Andhra
Pradesh (1996), and Super cyclone in Orissa (1999), Bhuj earthquake (2001),
Mumbai & Gujarat Flash Flood (2005).
The Sangha also provide services
at times of political unrest such as the India-Pakistan partition and the
Bangladesh Liberation Movement by setting up refugee camps and war evacuee
camps.
Tamil Nadu, India
The state of Tamil Nadu as the
worst affected with a death toll of 7,793. Districts of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam
and Chennai were amongst the worst hit. The Sangha was one of the first to begin
massive relief operations.
Cooked food was distributed
continuously to more than 5000 tsunami affected people for a week through our
Free Food Program. Basic cooking ingredients such as groceries, pulses, rice and
other supplies were also handled out. Clothing, blankets, baby food, polythene
sheets and medical supplies were disbursed to marooned districts.
The tsunami swept away a large
number of houses leaving a vast majority of families in temporary shelters or
camps. The Sangha launched a rehabilitation drive by volunteering to help
rebuild houses. More than 150 houses were constructed at Sonankuppam village in
Cuddaloer. Mechanised boats and fishing nets were also distributed to local
fisherfolk.
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
About 1900 islanders were
confirmed dead from a population of some 400000 in the aftermath of the tsunami.
The islands, only 100 km or so from the epicenter, suffered extensive
destruction on the southern cluster from Car Nicobar to Indira Point.
The Sangha faced the daunting
task of repairing the lives and property of ten of thousands of people and
monitoring relief and rehabilitation measures. Volunteers started extensive
relief work at Port Blair & Little Andaman, Hut Bay Islands among other
districts.
Free cooked food was supplied to
10000 people for almost 3 months in 5 camps in addition to distribution of
essential dry food and ingredients.
Rehabilitation Program, Kolkata
The Sangha is currently involved
with the rehabilitation and resettlement of canal dwellers implemented by the
Kolkata Environmental implementation Project Trust (KEIP). It is a bilateral
project with Asia Development Bank (ADB), Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)
and the Government of West Bengal. KMC has provided flats to 3500 canal dwellers
at the subsidized rate of 5% of the total construction cost.
The Sangha overseas
administration and interfaces with the beneficiaries. BSS also contributes by
guiding the socio-economic development of the canal dwellers through projects
concentrating on vocational training, formation of Self Help Groups, assistance
in opening bank and insurance accounts and formation of user groups who manage
maintenance of community assets.
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Health care and awareness programmes on leprosy eradication. TB
control, malaria, filarial and diarrhea camps are regularly organized.
This combined with vocational training programs empower the youth to be self-sufficient and economically independent.
Our Tribal Welfare Program is an extensive initiative covering the areas of education, health and income generation for weaker communities. Our activities are aimed at enabling these communities to be self-sufficient with sustainable employment opportunities and assisting them to be mainstreamed into society. The Sangha operates Tribal Welfare projects in the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Gujarat.
