Sri Viswajanani Parishat in the Service of People in Distress
The recent unprecedented floods in parts of coastal districts and other parts of Andhra Pradesh during the first week of October has left a trail of destruction in its wake in the form of heavy loss of human lives, livestock, and inundation of vast tracts of cultivated lands. This is a grim reminder of the devastating cyclonic storm that lashed coastal districts of Krishna & Guntur in 1977. The island villages in the river Krishna and those abutting it bore the brunt of the fury of these floods. The breaches that developed in the bunds of irrigation canals vastly aggravated the already worsened situation. Many of those who managed to survive had to climb the rooftops of a couple of buildings situated at an elevated location or the treetops, literally in the grip of fear for their lives.
There was a spontaneous response from the members of the SVJP at Jillellamudi to the call of distress and they rushed to some of the villages around Repalle town in Guntur district, with relief material in the form of food packets, sachets of drinking water, provisions and utensils for cooking to meet the immediate basic necessities. One recalls in this context how in 1977, Amma, accompanied by several of the inmates and other brothers in Jillellamudi, visited the main spots of devastation near Diviseema in Krishna district with food packets and clothing and how Amma hugged each of these villagers to provide much needed succor and solace.
On witnessing personally, the way brothers from SVJP organized the relief operations in a couple of villages, the Joint Collector of Guntur district requested that similar relief be provided to the villagers in Komminenivaripalem, a village on the fringes of Repalle town. The villagers there were filled with gratitude in their hearts at the much needed relief rendered to them by those from a far away village Jillellamudi.
Brothers V.Mallikharjuna Rao and Vamsi carried with them 1200 food packets for distribution in a small hamlet. As they were distributing at the rate of 4 packets each, they were left with only 80 packets, just sufficient for 20 more people. But they found to their utter surprise, that on completion of distribution to all of them, they were still left with 20 more packets! Brother Mallikharjuna Rao rendered a commendable service in these operations.
While brothers V.Rameshbabu, VSR Prasada Rao, N.Lakshmana Rao, Chakka Srimannarayana, L.Satyanarayana (Lala) and V.Mallikharjuna Rao played a major role in organizing the whole operations, visiting the villages on 5th, 7th, 8th & 9th October, brothers B.Ravindra Rao and Resident Secretary YV Madhusudana Rao participated in these activities overseeing them. The chief cook Mr. Chalapathi and his wife, sister Latika, brothers Ramakoteswara Rao, Ramu, Babi, the students (both boys & girls) of Matrusri Oriental college and the inmates of the campus enthusiastically lent their helping hand in packing and storing the food packets and supplying them when needed for transportation to the villages.
Subsequently the SVJP identified a small hamlet among the badly affected and adopted it for undertaking developmental work catering to their basic needs to start with.
Overall, it was a gratifying experience to all the participants in this heartwarming mission.