The Damage
Gujarat's 1997 monsoon rains arrived with rare venom. In just 3 days (25-June-97 to 27-June-97), hundreds of villages become little islands as rivers broke their banks and flooded prime agricultural land, flowing several feet over roads.
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Hundreds of villages became completely stranded for days and towns lay under siege cut off from the rest of the world.
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A total communications breakdown resulted in many areas.
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Roads and homes were swept away.
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Rivers broke their banks and flooded prime agricultural area.
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Some areas had power failure.
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Thousands of tons of crops were destroyed.
The Relief Operation
The volunteers of the Sanstha fanned out in 5 districts: Dhandhuka, Surendranagar, Mehsana, Gandhinagar and Amdavad. Using small boats or by wading through waist-deep waters, sadhus and volunteers risking their own lives, rushed to support and comfort the victims.
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70,000 food packets were prepared and distributed along with other essentials to thousands of victims.
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300 families in the district of Mehsana were given cooking utensils free.
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Volunteers distributed food and fresh drinking water to those stranded. In some areas, the volunteers reached these people by using specially requisitioned motor boats.
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The members helped several hundred victims to reach safer ground, where hot meals and clothes were provided.
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In certain areas medicines were distributed to prevent any diseases from spreading.