Visakhapatnam has always been the hub for socially conscious and responsible citizens, who step up during crises to help their fellow Vizagites. Now the RR Venkatapuram gas leak mishap in Vizag has given rise to such groups of responsible volunteers and front line workers yet again to help the victims. They have selflessly been working towards restoring normalcy for scores of victims. One such notable group of volunteers is ‘Vizag Safe Network Hub’ – a fraternity of corporate employees and entrepreneurs who have actively been providing food, shelter and protective gear for those affected in the tragedy. What’s interesting is a majority of this group doesn’t live in Vizag. They have settled in various parts of the world, but continue to work for the betterment of their hometown. We caught up with Vyshali Sagar, a volunteer from the association, to understand the extent of their relief activities.
How did your group come about?
“We are a group of corporate employees and entrepreneurs settled in various parts of India and abroad, who trace our roots back to Vizag. Most of us have family currently living in Visakhapatnam, while we have settled down in Hyderabad, Bangalore, USA and Canada for work. We met each other while volunteering for other NGOs and decided to collaborate and work together for our hometown Vizag.”
Please tell us a little about your volunteer work.
“Apart from the current RR Venkatapuram gas leak relief activities to help victims, our group has worked extensively during the Cyclone Hudhud. While the work back then was full-fledged, we re-grouped again, to work for the gas leak tragedy victims. So far, we have received around 20-30 requests for food, shelter and protective gear for locals. All of which have been fulfilled. We raised an emergency fund of Rs. 2 lakh so that immediate relief can be done for such requests.”
How is the relief work done, considering most of the group doesn’t live in Vizag currently?
“While a majority of our group doesn’t live in Vizag, we have on-ground volunteers working with us. They take care of distribution-related activities, and the rest of us are involved in other administrative work like raising funds, coordinating with requests, verifying them and redirecting them to the volunteers.”
What other relief activities are on your agenda?
“The Vizag Safe Hub has actively been working to provide face shields, masks, hand gloves and cooked meals to the gas leak victims currently. We are also looking at starting relief activities for COVID-19 in Vizag. This being the need of the hour. Recently, our group was approached by APIIC (Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation) requesting volunteers at transit centres to ensure migrants, travelling to other states, are taken care of. We will soon be involving our on-ground volunteers for the same.”
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