Operation Dost: Help offered by citizens denied as material in warehouse piles up

Hyderabad: While the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake left the Turkish nationalist homeless, the philanthropists from the city face agony of not being able to come to their rescue as their help is unable to reach the needy. Thanks to the warehouses which are already filled with relief material and there is not enough space to accommodate more articles. The kind-hearted citizens were asked to wait until the warehouse gets empty.

Amid the massive destruction caused after a series of deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria, following the help from respective embassies, Hyderabadis stepped forward for assistance. Inhabitants after knowing the warehouse located near the Hyderabad Airport turned out for donations and started purchasing essentials. When people visited the warehouse to deposit, they were asked to come later, as the officials stopped accepting materials as there is no space to store in the warehouse.

Mohammed Asif Hussain, a social activist who wanted to donate medical aid worth Rs 5 lakh to the consulate, was left distressed. He said "I ordered medical essentials worth Rs 5 lakh on February 11 and is still stored with me. I turned up to share my contribution to the quake-hit people but the concerned officials are not accepting it as there is already a warehouse filled with materials," he added.

He said, "The consulate should respect the donations of the people and should solve the logistics issues immediately and keep the donations safe."

Similarly, Ahmed Ali, a private school teacher and resident of Malakpet, said, "I procured a few clothes for men, women and children for the quake-hit people in Syria. But when I visited the warehouse to deposit, they denied, and asked me to come after a few days. When I looked into the warehouse it was full of material and some material was lying on the roadside as it could not be accommodated inside," he distressed.

As per the officials handling the relief operation, more than 200 tonnes of relief material is in the warehouse and as of now only one cargo was sent from the Telangana state.

City's social activists, NGOs said that the Turkish aid that is being donated is by the common people who have spent their hard-earned money and the material sent to the consulate is left lying and is mismanaged and mishandled. "The Turkish consulate had appealed to the public to contribute in kind and after a few days they sent out a message that they are not accepting any donations at the consulate and the donors were asked to deposit at the airport where again it is lying on the roads," added Asif Hussain.

"There is no coordination or advisor team with them. If they are facing any logistics issue, they should approach the Telangana government for smooth conduct of relief operation," he added.

A city-based NGO Sakina foundation who has been serving food daily in the city for the last 13 years wanted to go to Turkey and serve food to quake-hit victims but has not been receiving any response and support from the consulate. Asif Hussain said, "I along with my team wanted to go there with our own expenses and local support and logistics to serve food in Turkey to over 2,000 people daily. But there has been response and support from authorities."

We understand that the consulate is under distress looking at the disaster, but they have to hold their ground and take the received aid with responsibility and respect, says activists.