Meet the young man who helped more than 1000 families during the recent Chennai rains

This young man set up the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI) in 2006 in Chennai when he was just 19. Today, Arun Krishnamurthy’s NGO has won three UN awards for conservation, Google's Social Impact Award and Jane Goodall Institute’s Youth Leadership Award. Arun and EFI were also among the many groups in Chennai that came forward to help people who were hit badly by the torrential rains and floods across the state last week.

In an exclusive interview with dna, Arun Krishnamurthy talks about how EFI and its volunteers helped in the flood relief efforts. 

When did EFI get involved in the flood relief efforts? 

EFI got involved in the flood relief efforts because communities that volunteered with us in cleaning lakes were badly affected and we got into action as early as November 15, 2015. We contacted most of our partners and got an overwhelming response from them for the flood relief effort. We did not collect money from any donor, however, asked people to donate Flood Relief Kits which then could be directly given to those affected. We had donors across corporates, sporting groups, schools, colleges and senior citizens.

EFI collects food and other items from donors.

What are you providing for families that have been affected?

We divided our approach into - Primary Response: The initial response with basic needs such as fresh drinking water, bread, biscuits, blankets, mosquito repellents, fruits (banana and apple). We ensure each family in the community centres got one kit comprising of all these items. We provided these kits to families over five continuous days. In Secondary Response: With the help of the District Administration we identified families that have lost everything and provided them with an essential family kit of 5-8 kg of rice, 2-3 kg of pulses, blankets, dhotis-sarees, sleeping mats, vessels-plates-tumblers, milk powder, salt, sugar, sanitary pads, torch/candles with matchbox, water strainer. All of this in one kit per family. The Tertiary Response is flood relief at natural habitats. A large amount of garbage is piling up along the coast and it is imperative that we clean them at the earliest before the start of the sea turtle season. We have sought permission from the government and are roping in as many volunteers as possible to execute a sustained voluntary clean-ups all through December.

Arun and other volunteers distribute food and other items to people

How many people have you helped out across the state so far?

In Mudichur Panchayat and Perungalathur Panchayat which are the suburbs of Chennai, a total of approximately 2,700 people. In Cuddalore district— 300 families in Kattralai village, 100 families in Kurunjipadi taluk, 150 families in Thillai village and 350 families in Sirupalaiyur village.

What are your plans for the next two weeks?

The tertiary response of natural habitat clean-ups followed by a detailed study to adopt one of the villages for complete re-development.

If you want to volunteer with EFI, check out their Facebook page here.