They quench the thirst of Mangaluru residents selflessly

[email protected] (Pavithra Prakash)
May 25, 2016

Mangaluru, May 25: When a majority of political and social organisations in the city have been blaming the City Corporation for failing to supply water regularly for past few weeks, a small group of people turned Good Samaritans for the helpless families that were hit hard by the water famine.

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For the past two weeks, the volunteers of city based Highland Islamic Forum, have been engaged in providing water to the needy families in different parts Mangaluru for free cutting across the lines of religion, caste and creed without any expectation.

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The coastal city faced acute shortage of water this month as the Dakshina Kannada district received 21 per cent less rainfall last year. A few days ago, the water level at the Thumbe Vented Dam, the main source of water to the city, had gone down almost to 4 feet against the maximum level of 13 feet.

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While houses in some posh areas received water twice a week, some other areas got water only once a week. Houses in some upper-reach areas were completely deprived of water supply for last three weeks. Even though MCC opted to supply water to such areas by tankers, its service was only confined for the roadside houses.

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In such situation, the volunteers of HIF made all possible efforts to ensure that their service reaches to the families staying far away from the main roads. They chose most affected areas in the city for their service. For last two weeks they have been supplying water to 150 to 200 houses every day. They fetch water from wells and transport it in three pick-up vehicles using two dozen tanks to the affected area and provide water to the needy for free. They don't even hesitate to climb the stairs to supply water in case senior citizens or patients live in multi-story apartments.

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HIF president Nazim SS, who is ready to send his team to any part of the city where people are facing acute water shortage, thanks all the philanthropists who helped his forum to engage in this noble cause. He said that Falnir ward Corporator Abdul Razzak provided pump set to extract water from a deep well at Attavar. “We supply water in three pick-up vehicles carrying several tanks of 2,000 litre capacity every day,” he said, thanking industrialist SM Farooq, AK group and Deccan Plastic for providing the vehicles. He also expresses his thanks to Milagres ward Corporator Abdul Rauf for extending all the support.

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HIF itself bears the expense of the fuel consumed by the vehicles besides taking responsibility of the food and other requirements of 10 dedicated volunteers. Mr Nazim and other office bearers of the HIF including Ausaf, Suhail Bolar, Rizwan, Nabeel, Dawood, Saleem Adil Parvez, Mahfooz personally monitor the water supplying mission in spite of their busy schedule.

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They have poised to continue this service untill the Corporation starts supplying water regularly. Subhash Nagar in Pandeshwar, Jain Compound in Attavar, Juma Masjid Road in Bolar, Amrit Nagar, Rosario Church Road, Falnir are some of the areas in the city where HIF supplied water regularly for several days.

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The beneficiaries, who comprise of the people of different religions, classes and sections of the society, mince no words to praise the noble deed of HIF. “They are Muslims. We are Hindus. But, they provide us water for free every day without any expectation. We are lucky to have such selfless people in our city,” said Chaitra, a teacher who resides at Subhash Nagar.

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Chandrakant Nayak, whose family has been residing in the same locality for past 28 years, says that he never experienced such a water scarcity in the past. “We were completely deprived of drinking water. Though we have a namesake well, its water is not fit for drinking or cooking. Corporation's water supply tankers never came this side till now. In this juncture HIF volunteers' selfless service helped us to lead a peaceful life in last few days,” he says.

John D'Souza, whose wife gave birth to a baby a few days ago, says that his entire family is indebted to HIF. “We have a newborn at home and the Corporation has stopped supplying water. We thank God for helping us through these people in our hard times,” he adds.

pavithra prakash

The author is a freelance contributor who promotes co-existence and communal harmony.

Comments

satyameva jayate
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Viren.....
If the faith is strong...no one can convert any relegion.....
But it should be worth a relegion and people should feel that they are following the real god....not story based books and charecters written by authors and created by artists............ Educated people started thinking dear....May god help you too..

Basith hussain
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Masha allah HIF May Allah accept it from you

Mohammed Imran
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Great work HIF. Keep it up. May Allah bless you guys!

shahid
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

See the communal mentality of Viren Kotian...Huttu guna suttaru bidadu...

Saleem Malar
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

great work carry on.

Saleem Malar
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Great work carry on

NOOR
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Nobel QURAN tells us that ALL MANKIND is descended from ONE couple (ADAM & EVE ) Thus we are all bro & sis's and our differences is Languages and colors are but a MERCY that we might know ONE ANOTHER. Language and race should never be a reason for discriminating against people.
A MUSLIM should maintain good relations with HIS RELATIVES, but he should not unjustly FAVOR them over OTHERS. Further, A MUSLIM must be good to HIS NEIGHBORS, no matter their RELIGION. But the PROPHET MUHAMMAD pbuh taught us that a \NEIGHBOR\" is not just the one next door but includes all those up to 40 houses in all directions - effectively whole neighborhood...

If a MUSLIM works for the society with good deeds without showoff or expecting anything from people ... Then ALLAH will reward them... That's the purpose A TRUE MUSLIM will expect from ALLAH alone and not from PEOPLE...
When God promises... Then we should help and doesnt expect anything from people... Success and contentment in life comes when we OBEY the CREATOR alone & follow his messenger's advice.

Great work from HIF...May ALLAH reward YOU guys for helping in times of NEED..."

Unun Hasan
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Works like this is the true charm of Islam. We are being doubted of the intention because totally non existent from the side Of the so called Muslims. HIF kudos to u people. You have restarted good works which belonged to muslims, that was forgotten by them since a long long time ago. May the merciful Allah bless u and shower his mercy on you all.

aharkul
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Great Work HFI. May Allah (SWT) reward you in each and every walks of life. Keep it up doing such work.

May Allah give you all a Paradise for your endless help to the sufferer. Aameen.....

Naina
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Hey Viren Kotian!

Oara pokkade kullu maraya.. ninna desett yankleg mone thojpaayere avondijji... bele malpunaklaanda malpaad. ee podu cheddi pard badd kovi pathd shastrabhyasa malpu.

Asif
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Masha Allah...great works....all good deeds with out any expectations in this world will be rewarded ... In Sha Allah

Farooque
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

well done HIF, i would loved to join your social work if i would be thr.

Monika
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Good work HIF and all supporters. You are a role model for other groups.

Deepak Roy
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

No words. May Allah keep them happy always.

Niyaz
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

some cheap mentality people who spent this month in fighting against each other in the name of AP-EK after tight se PK, must learn from HIF

Priyank
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Really good work. god bless them .

Fayaz
 - 
Wednesday, 25 May 2016

indeed a wonderful job. really appreciable. this is why Mangalore is called a city of kind and noble people. unfortunately because of some goons and politicians perhaps the cities imaged is damaged.

Viren Kotian
 - 
Tuesday, 24 May 2016

No doubt a good work. but is there any hidden agenda behind this service? Pavithra mam, plz try to find out. We have experienced the service of Christian missionaries, whose only aim is conversion of innocent hindus.

CK Nayak
 - 
Tuesday, 24 May 2016

God bless you HFI. you did a great job. people of mangaluru should learn from you.

Madhu
 - 
Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Good write up Pavithra mam. You have brought to light the noble deed of noble people of our city.

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News Network
April 12,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 12: Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday appealed to the Central government to announce the rent rebate scheme for the benefit of tenants in the wake of economic activities coming to a grinding halt due to COVID-19 related lockdown.

In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy said people are facing difficulty in paying rent as usual and hence the rent rebate scheme should be initiated.

"Many countries have already announced rent rebate scheme for tenants during COVID19 emergency. It is surprising that Indian Govt has not announced any such relief even to residential tenants. I urge the PM to immediately come to the rescue of everyone living in rented housing," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

He said a considerable workforce and students in metropolitan cities live in hostels and rented houses.

As all economic activity has come to a grinding halt, it is very difficult for them to pay the rent as usual.

The Prime Minister must announce rent rebate scheme, he added.

Highlighting the plight of the tenants, Kumaraswamy said, "If the landlords insist on rent, the tenants cannot even go searching for new accommodation due to the emergency. Hence the government intervention is essential. The PM must announce a comprehensive national rent rebate scheme for COVID-19 emergency."

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News Network
May 20,2020

Bengaluru, May 20: Ride-sharing company Ola Cabs said on Wednesday it will lay off 1,400 of its employees due to business uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic while the revenue has come down by 95 per cent in the past two months.

"The COVID crisis continues to unfold all around us causing unprecedented economic and social destruction. It has also become evident that the coronavirus will not be eliminated any time soon," wrote co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to all Ola employees.

"In these circumstances, today I write to all of you with the toughest decision I have ever taken -- the need to downsize our organisation and let go of 1,400 of our valued employees," he said.

Aggarwal said the fallout of virus has been very tough for the cab aggregating industry in particular. "The company's revenue has come down by 95 per cent over the past two months," he said.

Initially, he said, the company hoped it would be a short-lived crisis and that its impact would be temporary. "But unfortunately, it is not been a short crisis. And the prognosis ahead for our business is very unclear and uncertain. It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before."
With more companies preferring to have a large number of employees work from home, air travel limited to essential trips and vacations being put off for better times, the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn, said Aggarwal.

"The world is not going to revert to the pre-COVID era anytime soon. Social distancing, anxiety and an abundance of caution will be the operating principles for everyone," he told employees.

Aggarwal said the crisis necessitates the need to conserve cash aggressively so that Ola is able to invest in opportunities in the future, adding the downsizing exercise has been a very tough and sad decision for the management team to make.

"While we restructure our organisation to the new realities of our business, we are also going to recommit ourselves to strengthening our operational excellence and leverage a lot more technology to improve efficiencies and reduce cost across all parts of our business," he said.

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News Network
February 27,2020

Benagluru, Feb 27: The sudden hike in bus fares by the state-run transport corporation has triggered a public outrage and protests by the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka.

Terming the hike as anti-people and inflationary, the Congress urged the ruling BJP to withdraw it forthwith and spare the commuters from the additional burden.

"KSRTC and its affiliates should not further burden the people when the cost of living has gone up and its bus service is used by the majority in the absence of trains in many regions of the state," said Ravi Gowda of the Congress.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday night, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and its two affiliates -- North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKSRTC )and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKSRTC) -- increased bus fares by 12% with effect from Wednesday, drawing the ire of commuters and opposition parties alike.

Condemning the fare hike, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy urged the KSRTC to roll back the revised fares and give relief to the common man reeling under price rise due to CGST, SGST and food inflation.

"The BJP government has deliberately increased the bus fare ahead of the state budget for 2020-21 fiscal on March 2, catching people unawares. Though student passes have been spared from the hike, regular passengers are forced to pay Rs 5-32 more instead of getting better efficiency, management and productivity," Kumaraswamy said in a statement in Bengaluru.

It's an additional burden on us, said Bengaluru resident K. Venkatesh, while adding,

"The 12 percent hike in bus fares by the KSRTC and its north-east and north-west affiliates from Wednesday will hit passengers hard and make commuting costly.”

"The fare hike will negate the state government's efforts to encourage public transport service and force passengers to travel on the train, which is cheaper, faster and safer," asserted Venugopal Gupta, a cloth merchant in the city.

Justifying the hike, KSRTC Managing Director Shivayogi Kalasad told media that the hike was inevitable due to the steady increase in diesel price, dearness allowance in staff salary and overall cost of operations.

"Since the last fare revision came in May 2014, the operational cost has gone up substantially due to Rs 11.27 per litre hike in diesel price, increase in DA to employees and repairing, maintenance and fleet management costs," Kalasad said.

The financial burden due to fuel price hike is Rs 261 crore, DA Rs 341 crore and operational cost Rs 601 crore per annum for KSRTC alone, he said.

"For the benefit of rural passengers, fares have been reduced to Rs 5 from Rs 7 for the first 3 km. There is no increase in fares for the first 12 km and up to first 6 km in express service," Kalasad added.

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