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.

water8

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.

water4

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.

water1

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.

water5

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.

water2

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.

water3

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.

water6

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.

water7

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.

water9

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.

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
coastaldigest.com news network
April 17,2020

The unexpected lockdown to prevent spread of covid–19 has caused a serious damage to the lives of Indian expatriates irrespective of laborers and entrepreneurs in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Different stories of expatriates' ordeals are emerging from the region. 

Abdul Razaq, hailing from Udupi in Karnataka has been running small scale business at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, based on oil refinery projects of the government. He was undergoing medical treatment for his cancer which is in fist stage. He explaines his ordeals caused by lockdown and stopping the flight facility. 

“I was regularly visiting home country for the treatment of cancer. Now I cannot go as international flight service has been stopped. I expect that government will hear problems of expatriates and will arrange facilities to take us back to home”, he said.

Mubeen from Bengaluru was working on temporary basis  for a company in Jubail. He had lost his jobs like some of his colleagues due to the lockdown.

“As everything was alright, I had brought my parents recently to Saudi Arabia on a visit visa. Things changed drastically with covid-19 attack. Continuous lockdown caused burden over the company and they removed temporary employees like me to control possible losses” he said.

“Now owner of the flat has been harassing me for the rent. I do not have money either to pay rent or to cover daily family expenses. I do not know what to do further”, he added. 

Iqbal from Mangaluru left for Saudi Arabia to help his family. He got a job in a juce centre in Dammam recently. Corona lockdown made his life difficult. He is eager to return his home country. 

“I came to Saudi Arbia because of financial difficulties as I had not found any job with good salary there. I thought I can earn well by going to Saudi Arabia. However, here too the salary was not so good. Now juice center is closed due to lockdown and sponsor is giving very small amount of money as salary through which we cannot afford our expenses and our families back in home,” he said.

“Here It is not easy get help of fellow Indians since most of them have their own ordeals. I would like to return home country; there however we can manage to get help of friends and relatives. I am looking forward the help of Indian government to start air facility for stranded NRIs,” he said. 

Mohsin from Mysuru is a taxi driver in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. He was earning on commission basis. Now Saudi government banned movement of taxis in the region, which pushed him and his fellow taxi drivers into trouble.

“We were earning commissions daily on the basis of trips. Now we cannot move outside with taxi since it may cause us to pay the fine of SR.10000. How can I manage my expenses and family members in home?”, he asked.

There are cases of pregnant women who have to return India for delivery. Those who brought family here on visit visa will not have insurance. Delivery charges and any kind of medical facilities without insurance in Saudi Arabia is very expensive. Expatriate Indians with such problems are awaiting government's help.

“I had brought my wife on one year visit visa. Now she is pregnant and I have to send her back to home for delivery. If lockdown continues, it is difficult to send back and we have to spend big amounts for delivery without insurance. It is a big burden to me as I work for small salary in a company”, said Yunus from Hyderabad, who is living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Lockdown is haunting even entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. Most of expatriates in the industrial hub of Jubail are doing business based on Saudi Government’s oil refinery projects. Saudi Arabia temporarily stopped most of the projects as part of public health safety measures to maintain social distance. 

“We are doing business based on oil refinery projects. Now projects are stopped. We brought around 1100 people on work permit visa on temporary basis. And also, we have around 1200 permanent workers. It is a big burden to provide them with food, accommodation and salary. It may cause a big loss for our company”, said owner of expatriates company, Sheikh Mohammed.

Saudi Arabia had reported first corona virus affected case in March 2, 2020. At the end of March, it was 1600 and now it already corssed 6000. Saudi Health ministry has cautioned the number of affected people may rise 10000 to 200,000 and directed for more precautionary measures. In such case, the Indian expatriates may have to face crisis in the region. 

Indian expatriate organizations are demanding for immediate intervention of Indian government to ensure better quarantine facility and treatment of NRIs in Saudi Arabia as the cases are increasing rapidly. The condition of laborers in some of the camps are such that seven to eight people should share a single bed room. 

“Normally if there is a flat, it will consist three to four bed rooms. In single bedroom companies will provide three four bunk beds and six to eight people should share the room. In such cases, if a person affected with virus it will spread quickly to others. Thus, Indian government should ensure quarantine facility for NRIs”, says Wasim Rabbani, president of Indian Social Forum, Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia. 

President of Karnataka Non Residential Indians, A forum for the NRI organizations of Karnataka, Zakaria Muzain says Indian Government should immediately interfere to bring back those stranded NRIs who wish to return home. Government should intervene to pressure Indian embassy to take the issues of troubled expatriates. 

“Government should make special flight arrangement for such NRIs in trouble. It should also arrange quarantine facility for those who return to India. Already there are many Non-Governmental charity organization which have come forward to give their facilities for NRIs”, he said. 

NRIs from all categories are looking forward for the help of Indian government. It is important to Indian government to take quick action as the problem is increasing in Saudi Arabia.

Comments

Althaf
 - 
Monday, 20 Apr 2020

Help from modi government is a nightmare 

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 22,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 22: Mangaluru Commissioner of Police PS Harsha said that Aditya Rao, who surrendered before Bengaluru Police after planting an improvised explosive device (IED) at the Mangaluru International Airport, is now in their custody.

"Our Investigation team arrested Aditya Rao in Bengaluru in connection with planting of an explosive device at Mangaluru Airport on January 20. We produced the accused before Bengaluru first JMFC court and court issued transit warrant," said Harsha.

"We have brought him to Mangaluru from Bengaluru, now the accused is in our custody, our investigation team will interrogate him. We will investigate all aspects. He will be produced before Mangaluru 6th JMFC Court," he added.

Rao hails from Udupi and has engineering and MBA degrees.

According to the police, the IED was recovered from a bag at Mangaluru airport on January 20. It was later defused in an open field by the personnel of the bomb disposal squad.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 5,2020

Bengaluru, May 5: Karnataka Education Minister, S Suresh Kumar on Monday announced that the SSLC exams will be held as soon as possible, the officials have been asked to be prepared.

The guidelines have been given by the Primary Education Minister to all Deputy Directors of Education departments.

"Sanitisers, masks, screening, and all guidelines will be followed at exam halls," said Kumar in a statement.

Meanwhile, Karnataka has reported 651 COVID-19 positive cases so far, said State Health Department said on Monday.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.