In April 2022, northwest and central India recorded the highest temperature for 122 years. According to news reports, Delhi recorded a temperature of 49.2 degrees Celsius, with most of India experiencing daytime temperatures that are 5-8 degrees higher than usual. Whilst heatwaves are common during May and June, and the first heatwave came to India in March this year.
Hot weather impacts tens of thousands of people in India, especially families in rural areas. Hospitals around the country are overwhelmed by ever-increasing cases of heat stroke, diarrhoea, vomiting and high fever. The drying up of water collection points (e.g. wells, ponds, rivers, etc.) has forced villagers, especially housewives, to walk 2 to 4 km to get water from the farmlands. Whilst water sources are getting depleted, the ones left are dirty and polluted.
Villagers also suffer economically as their animals and crops died and withered from the lack of water, leading to the loss of livestock and crops and a decrease in food production.
CEDAR Fund allocated US$20,000 (approx. HK$156,000) to support its partner organisation in India, EFICOR, operating at three locations: the Damoh and Barwani regions in Madhya Pradesh and the Pratapgargh region in Rajasthan. In total, 450 families received assistance to get through the difficult period (the entire partnership programme supported 1500 families with either low income or members with disabilities and ailments). According to data from the India Meteorological Department, these regions are made up of rocky and hilly landscapes within which heat would be accumulated, causing the temperature to be higher than in other areas. Also, the annual rainfall in the past few years has been less than normal (i.e. an average of 1200 mm), recording an average of just 845 mm and leading to a lowered groundwater table of 400-850 feet on average. This makes the villagers’ usual water collection points become even arider.
Project Details
- Provide water trunks supplying 20 L of water per day per person for 40 days.
- Provide supplementary oral rehydration solution and glucose for each household.
- Provide water purification tablets for each household.
- Improve the beneficiaries’ knowledge of heat stroke by putting out educational information at bus stops, central areas of villages, markets, etc.
DONATION METHOD
(Please specify: India Heatwave Assistance)
Cheque
Please make it payable to CEDAR FUND
Direct Deposit
HSBC: 004-600-385678-001
BEA: 015-185-68-00931-7SSA
BOC: 012-581-2-020114-7
DBS: 016-478-001364162
Faster Payment System
FPS ID: 3354016 or scan the below code in the online banking
After donation, please send a completed Donation Form, enclosing with cheque, bank-in slip or screenshot of successful payment along with your name, contact phone number and mailing address to us via mail, email or WhatsApp.
Address: CEDAR Fund, G.P.O. Box 3212, Hong Kong
Email: sharing@cedarfund.org
WhatsApp (for donation matters only): 5160 7549
- CEDAR is an approved charitable institution and trust of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please visit Inland Revenue Department website for details.
- CEDAR Fund will issue a receipt for a donation of HK$100 or above for tax deduction. For a donation of less than HK$100, please get in touch with us to issue a receipt.
- Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
If the donation exceeds the above mentioned allocation of funds, the excess amount will be transferred to CEDAR’s ‘Emergency Relief and Disaster Preparedness Fund’. The fund will enable us to respond to immediate needs, and support disaster mitigation in poor nations always being hit by disasters to reduce the amount of devastation.