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3 years ago
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Secure or not?
I was in Bombay some time ago and when I landed there I had mentally prepared myself to be stuck at customs for a couple of hours. But to my "disappointment" I wasn't. On the contrary. The only reason why it took me 45 minutes to get out of the airport was because my luggage took a while to come out. I stood in the green channel line to get my bags checked, but I was told to just go ahead and leave. I didn't have to go through scanning of the bags or any other security check. Me including 50 other people in front of me were told to cut the line and leave.
I was honestly pretty infuriated. It was not too long after the terrorist attacks and the security was so weak anyone could have walked out of the airport with anything packed in their bags. And apparently I was not the only one noticing a lapse in security at the airports.
But, in the city center and all around Bombay I could not have felt more safe. Even though there was "Naka Bandi" - Road checks almost every 1000 meters on some days it made me feel safe. Knowing there could be terrorists still floating amongst us, so the fact that were so many cops in every corner of the city made me secure. It was an odd sight to see barricades at each an every hotel. Not too long ago we could just give our cars in valet right at the doorstep of the Taj, the Oberoi or any other hotel, now we have to leave them outside have the K9 sniff them, get frisked every time we enter any of these hotels and all other security measures.
Bombay is home and this last time I visited it was hard to see the city that is full of energy, excitement and optimism be this glum.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
BOMBAY COMMUNITY PUBLIC TRUST UPDATE
From the BCPT, a non-profit that IndiaUnite supports through donations. Please stay tuned for details on our upcoming fundraiser.
Dear Friends,
As our supporter for this cause, we would like you to know how far we have progressed in our work with the affected families. A brief review of the work done so far by BCPT in this regard is given below.
Overview:
On behalf of the citizens of Mumbai, BCPT endeavored to reach out to all affected families – deceased and injured, rich and poor, Mumbaikars and those residing in other parts of the country. Since the Taj Group of Hotels, the Oberoi Group of Hotels, the Police and the NSG immediately announced to take care of their own personnel, and since other NGOs had announced their intention of supporting the victims admitted to JJ and GT hospitals, BCPT therefore concentrated on contacting 72 families of deceased victims and 80 victims who were injured as they did not fall in any of the above categories. Additionally, referrals of 11 cases given to BCPT with a request to extend support were also included in the list.
We focused on 72 families of deceased victims. Of these, we contacted 66 families but were not able to locate 6 families since some addresses were incomplete, homes were locked and phone numbers were wrong.
Of the 66 families, the families of 20 deceased victims require help. The remaining 46 families have stated that they do not require help or are receiving required support from other sources. The 20 victims have left behind
28 minor children
6 retired, dependent parents
11 widows and
1 family has lost both parents.
The families contacted by us all require support. They are going through a very difficult time and have yet to come to term with their loss. The widows are traumatized as they all have young children and now have to work out ways of caring for the family single-handedly. Most of them are housewives, so they also have to prepare themselves to step out of their houses and earn a livelihood.
A few of the deceased victims were unmarried, yet were the main bread winners of their family. In these families the dependents include old parents and siblings – small children and/or young adults.
Some of the families were living in small rented houses in low income neighborhoods. With no steady income now, they are faced with the situation of having to move out of these houses and either move in with relatives or go back to their hometowns.
One of the deceased was a taxi driver who drove a rented taxi to earn money. He is survived by his wife and two young children aged 5 and 3. They are currently in Mumbai but will go back to their village, where they do farming. He was the only earning member of the family. His father has cancer. He used to send money home to his village every month for the treatment of his father. One of his brothers is also a taxi driver in Mumbai. He has another brother who is going to come to Mumbai now to earn.
A young woman who lost her life used to work as a domestic help to support her family. She lost her life in the bomb blast at Wadi Bunder. She is survived by her husband and two young sons. Her husband sells fish from door to door for a living and does not have a fixed income. It was his wife whose monthly income was used to support their family. Her husband and children currently stay in a rented house. However, since her husband does not have a fixed income, paying rent and school fees has become difficult for him.
Of the 80 injured victims to be contacted, 7 could not be contacted because of inadequate addresses. Thus 73 victims were contacted. Of these, 62 victims do not need help or are receiving the required support from other sources. Thus presently 11 cases are under consideration. One of them is severely injured and requires educational support for his child as well as some support for his wife to compensate for loss of income to the family. The remaining victims are at present using the compensation provided by the government and/or the railways. A few of them expect that once that is exhausted they may still need support for an additional period of 2 to 4 months.
A man injured during the shooting at CST was admitted to hospital, and has not yet been discharged. Due to the nature of his injuries, he will be bed-ridden for at least six months in the hospital and a year at home. He has a wife and a four year old son. His wife used to do embroidery work at home through which she earned about Rs.4,000 a month. However, due to her husband’s injury and hospitalization, she cannot continue with the work, leading to the loss of her income. Having no income and no other relatives in Mumbai for support, she has been forced to send her son back to their village.
Commitment for support:
Keeping in view the funds received so far as donations, the details for extending support to the families of the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks has been slightly reworked as under:
· For the 29 children (28 of deceased victims and 1 of an injured victim) we commit to provide a sponsorship of Rs. 2500 per month for their education and maintenance needs for a minimum period of two years. Funds available, this commitment will be extended by one or more years. Total amount committed: Rs. 17.40 lakh. This support will be extended to a maximum of three children in a family.
· Considering the fact that six dependent old parents will need funds on a regular basis for their health and maintenance needs, it has been decided to provide them with a monthly annuity of Rs. 5000 each for a minimum period of two years. Thus we commit a sum of Rs. 7.20 lakh for a period of two years. Funds permitting, this will be extended by one or more years.
· In view of the fact that the 11 widows will all be getting support through the sponsorship of their children (either two or three), direct support for their maintenance will now be considered at a later date, funds permitting.
· For those injured victims who might require long term medical/rehabilitation support, we propose to set aside Rs. 3.00 lakh.
· In addition to general donations received, the Trust has also received amounts to be directed to a specific individual/s or group of victims e.g. Oberoi employees and the police. The Trust will honor the requests and disburse the funds as per the wishes of the donors.
Disbursements:
The process of disbursement has begun and cheques to 20 children and 3 parents (senior citizens) have been issued.
Thanks and regards,
Harsha Parekh
(Executive Trustee)
Dear Friends,
As our supporter for this cause, we would like you to know how far we have progressed in our work with the affected families. A brief review of the work done so far by BCPT in this regard is given below.
Overview:
On behalf of the citizens of Mumbai, BCPT endeavored to reach out to all affected families – deceased and injured, rich and poor, Mumbaikars and those residing in other parts of the country. Since the Taj Group of Hotels, the Oberoi Group of Hotels, the Police and the NSG immediately announced to take care of their own personnel, and since other NGOs had announced their intention of supporting the victims admitted to JJ and GT hospitals, BCPT therefore concentrated on contacting 72 families of deceased victims and 80 victims who were injured as they did not fall in any of the above categories. Additionally, referrals of 11 cases given to BCPT with a request to extend support were also included in the list.
We focused on 72 families of deceased victims. Of these, we contacted 66 families but were not able to locate 6 families since some addresses were incomplete, homes were locked and phone numbers were wrong.
Of the 66 families, the families of 20 deceased victims require help. The remaining 46 families have stated that they do not require help or are receiving required support from other sources. The 20 victims have left behind
28 minor children
6 retired, dependent parents
11 widows and
1 family has lost both parents.
The families contacted by us all require support. They are going through a very difficult time and have yet to come to term with their loss. The widows are traumatized as they all have young children and now have to work out ways of caring for the family single-handedly. Most of them are housewives, so they also have to prepare themselves to step out of their houses and earn a livelihood.
A few of the deceased victims were unmarried, yet were the main bread winners of their family. In these families the dependents include old parents and siblings – small children and/or young adults.
Some of the families were living in small rented houses in low income neighborhoods. With no steady income now, they are faced with the situation of having to move out of these houses and either move in with relatives or go back to their hometowns.
One of the deceased was a taxi driver who drove a rented taxi to earn money. He is survived by his wife and two young children aged 5 and 3. They are currently in Mumbai but will go back to their village, where they do farming. He was the only earning member of the family. His father has cancer. He used to send money home to his village every month for the treatment of his father. One of his brothers is also a taxi driver in Mumbai. He has another brother who is going to come to Mumbai now to earn.
A young woman who lost her life used to work as a domestic help to support her family. She lost her life in the bomb blast at Wadi Bunder. She is survived by her husband and two young sons. Her husband sells fish from door to door for a living and does not have a fixed income. It was his wife whose monthly income was used to support their family. Her husband and children currently stay in a rented house. However, since her husband does not have a fixed income, paying rent and school fees has become difficult for him.
Of the 80 injured victims to be contacted, 7 could not be contacted because of inadequate addresses. Thus 73 victims were contacted. Of these, 62 victims do not need help or are receiving the required support from other sources. Thus presently 11 cases are under consideration. One of them is severely injured and requires educational support for his child as well as some support for his wife to compensate for loss of income to the family. The remaining victims are at present using the compensation provided by the government and/or the railways. A few of them expect that once that is exhausted they may still need support for an additional period of 2 to 4 months.
A man injured during the shooting at CST was admitted to hospital, and has not yet been discharged. Due to the nature of his injuries, he will be bed-ridden for at least six months in the hospital and a year at home. He has a wife and a four year old son. His wife used to do embroidery work at home through which she earned about Rs.4,000 a month. However, due to her husband’s injury and hospitalization, she cannot continue with the work, leading to the loss of her income. Having no income and no other relatives in Mumbai for support, she has been forced to send her son back to their village.
Commitment for support:
Keeping in view the funds received so far as donations, the details for extending support to the families of the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks has been slightly reworked as under:
· For the 29 children (28 of deceased victims and 1 of an injured victim) we commit to provide a sponsorship of Rs. 2500 per month for their education and maintenance needs for a minimum period of two years. Funds available, this commitment will be extended by one or more years. Total amount committed: Rs. 17.40 lakh. This support will be extended to a maximum of three children in a family.
· Considering the fact that six dependent old parents will need funds on a regular basis for their health and maintenance needs, it has been decided to provide them with a monthly annuity of Rs. 5000 each for a minimum period of two years. Thus we commit a sum of Rs. 7.20 lakh for a period of two years. Funds permitting, this will be extended by one or more years.
· In view of the fact that the 11 widows will all be getting support through the sponsorship of their children (either two or three), direct support for their maintenance will now be considered at a later date, funds permitting.
· For those injured victims who might require long term medical/rehabilitation support, we propose to set aside Rs. 3.00 lakh.
· In addition to general donations received, the Trust has also received amounts to be directed to a specific individual/s or group of victims e.g. Oberoi employees and the police. The Trust will honor the requests and disburse the funds as per the wishes of the donors.
Disbursements:
The process of disbursement has begun and cheques to 20 children and 3 parents (senior citizens) have been issued.
Thanks and regards,
Harsha Parekh
(Executive Trustee)
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