“If you hadn’t reached us on time, we don’t know what we would have done. We would have perhaps committed suicide. We cannot see our children go hungry and this was our last resort, thank you.” This is what a member from a family in Mumbai told a volunteer from the Mumbai Lockdown Relief project who provided them with rations. With many areas being sealed off and people under strict lockdown, selfless individuals and voluntary groups are coming together to help those in need of food, rations, medicines, first aid and most importantly, information.
The Mumbai lockdown 24x7 relief helpline started on March 27 has been keeping its volunteers busy round-the-clock. Started by a group of over 20 young adults eager to help in the time of growing crisis due to the pandemic, the helpline has been getting calls from distressed individuals and families, sometimes as late as 4 am.
“We have received 1,700 calls so far and most of them have been asking for ration, transport of cooked food and medicines. We are 15 people on the front end taking calls 24 hours, supported by another eight in the back-end who help in collating and verifying a list of NGOs working in different areas. There is also a research group which studies, collates, interprets, translates government other departmental notifications and keeps all information live and up to date that is accessed by helpline volunteers so that latest and most appropriate directions can be given,” says Chaitra Yadavar, who is responsible for the on-ground coordination.
The Mumbai lockdown project works in a way that those who call the helpline are connected to the NGOs or volunteers who are handling relief work in the particular area the caller hails from. The helpline then asks the relevant NGO working in the area to deliver either rations or cooked food right to the caller’s doorstep. While those who call are often distressed migrant families or daily wage labourers who live huddled together in dingy rooms, are unable to support themselves through the lockdown period because of a lack of money and work, those who sign up with the hotline as volunteers are often locals including college students ready to lend a hand. “We get callers from across the city and beyond, including Dharavi, Mumbra, Matunga, Nalasopara, and through our helpline and local NGOs, we have been able to help at least 50-60 groups of such migrants and give them ration for a week. In extreme cases where no NGO can deliver them ration due to the quarantine, we have transferred money to the kirana store which can in turn deliver the grains,” says Richard Jacob, a team member of the Lockdown project. One of the strangest request he's received so far, has been by a person who called in to say he was stuck with relatives and it was getting “unbearable”. “He really requested us to pull him out of there,” says Jacob, laughing.
Another group of volunteers (almost 150 of them) has come together to especially cater to the elderly in the city. “We realised that the need of the elderly for rations must be so high during these challenging times and especially when they are all by themselves as their children are stuck in other parts of the city or abroad,” says Sangini Lalwani and caters to senior citizens in the areas of Wadala, Sion, Matunga while others in the group provide service in different areas across the city. “Upon receiving a call we personally go and pick up rations or vegetables/fruits as needed. We self-deliver it or order it online on their behalf as the seniors cannot do it themselves.” The volunteers use the essential services card so as not to be stopped by the authorities. Some of them have their own vehicle and make sure to follow all hygiene protocols.
Self-motivated individuals at KhaanaChahiye.com—an initiative by Project Mumbai—are passionately following their commitment towards serving food to the homeless, needy and the less fortunate of Mumbai. On April 7, as per their website, the group has served hot food to almost 40,000 Mumbaikars. At the same time, another NGO YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action) a non-profit in Mumbai is providing essentials to families across the city by fundraising online.
Team Mumbai lockdown 24x7 relief helpline number: 9319371656
