In an official statement to the media, actor Siddharth and his ‘Chennai Micro’ along with RJ Balaji have opened up about their achievements during the recent floods that lashed the city and their relief activities. The details are as under:
During the recent floods that ravaged our city, when waters moved from lakes into people’s living rooms, RJ Balaji and Actor Siddharth spurred into action. They wanted to use their strength for a cause and decided to work on the field, so that they could assess the situation firsthand and accordingly act on relief measures immediately. Thus was born Chennai Micro.
The team drew its strength from the active participation of thousands of selfless volunteers, corporates and eminent people from different walks of life. They lent tireless support at a time when the city needed it most. When we started out, our focus was on rescue operations. Later, we got involved in the muchneeded relief work. Our hardworking ground teams ensured that the affected citizens received drinking water, hot packed food, biscuits, diapers, sanitary napkins, medicines, milk powder, blankets, mats, mosquito repellents, coils and clothes, among many other crucial relief material. The Chennai Micro team reached out to various floodaffected areas in Chennai and Cuddalore, with relief material. Chennai Micro saw 5,695 amazing ontheground volunteers across Chennai and Cuddalore. These committed and dedicated people provided momentum to our movement. In all, 24,500 volunteers lent us their time online too, helping us in #ChennaiMicro movement!
We were incredibly touched to receive over 100 trucks containing lifegiving relief material from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and beyond! To bring in order and better organizational capabilities, we established seven centers for relief work, where material was collected and distributed. We also had one main centre, which acted as the information hub. This was powered by an efficient team that helped with the crucial work of collecting data, verifying requirements and immediately attending to them.
In all, we received relief material worth around Rs. 6.5 crores. What stood out was not the monetary value but the timely, invaluable contribution of the people who opened up their hearts and wallets. This has been a truly revelatory moment about the amazing spirit of our people!
Fundraising and the way forward
We, at Chennai Micro, have realised the amazing power of humanity and the mountains it can move. We have received a whopping Rs 3,39,18,793 from across the world as contributions to the V Trust. We have now officially stopped receiving funds.
We have signed an MOU with Aid India, a reputed institution which works in the field of Education and Rehabilitation work. We will work with them towards rehabilitation measures such as a) Health/Malnutrition related issues amongst children b) Rebuilding/Repairing homes affected in the floods & c) Sanitation in floodaffected areas in Cuddalore and Kalpakkam. Our team has so far identified 50 villages that needs immediate attention and we will offer them our support over the next 6 to 12 months.
We want this fund to reach the most needy. In this process, we have identified seven orphanages and one animal shelter as of now where Rehabilitation work will start. We will partner with more such organizations through our dedicated team. Our aim is to rebuild, refurbish, and meet the other infrastructural needs of these places, besides total livelihood rehabilitation in oldage homes.
Chennai Micro also facilitated the augmentation of funds for Bhumika Trust (which has recognition for acceptance of foreign contributions). The Trust is engaged in providing extensive relief work and rehab through small entrepreneur programmes.
We learnt of the untimely deaths of Bharath and Imran, two amazing human beings who lost their lives during volunteering and rescue operations (not related to Chennai Micro). We salute their spirit and would like to offer their families a solatium of Rs.3 lakhs each.
The Chennai Micro movement would not have succeeded without the inspiring, amazing people who make up our home, the city of Chennai. We have a longterm goal to continue working towards creating livelihoods for the underprivileged through Chennai Micro. Chennai, please help us keep this spirit aglow. Stay ALIVE…
