Kerala floods: Here is how the internet contributed to relief and rescue operations in the state

The internet, of late, has witnessed a rise in unwanted and unwarranted activities which has given the medium a bad reputation. However, in the case of Kerala floods, it has played a major role in the relief and rescue operations, saving multiple lives.

The Kerala government put the technology to great use with the Keralarescue.in portal. It is an open source website through which people can sign up to volunteer, contribute, locate relief camps and, most importantly, request for help like ask for food, water or even to be rescued.

People used Twitter to organise and send relief material. Sandhya Menon, a journalist, raised nearly Rs 8.9 lakh and has been collecting and dispatching relief material from her home.

Closing today having sent off: 3 tons of stuff.
Funds collected so far: 6,10,000Lac.
Medicines arranged for: 50,000 units from one source.
Volunteers who helped: 12
Generosity: unending.

Thank you.

First evening in days I've had to myself.

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So so so overwhelmed.

— Sandhya Menon (@TheRestlessQuil) August 19, 2018

On the same platform, Dhanya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of The News Minute, helped people connect with volunteers and set up rescue efforts.

Pls note. If family or friends are stranded in Kerala, please call the district control rooms first. If help does not arrive, fill this, tag me. Will send it to officials collating data. Let us try all means.
People :
Description :
Number :
Location:
District :
Time of SoS call:

— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) August 15, 2018

People who could not volunteer offered their professional services to people who donated a certain amount to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund. Prem Panicker offered to edit manuscripts of anyone who donated Rs 10,000.

And here is my offer to go with @amitvarma 's -- donate 10k, send me the receipt, and I will do a landscape edit of your writing/manuscript/narrative, of any length. https://t.co/APqg2gRZvm

— Prem Panicker (@prempanicker) August 18, 2018

“If you are donating more than 20k towards flood relief efforts, I will develop a mobile responsive website for you,” Mejo Kuriachan tweeted.

A Reddit user donated thrice the number of upvotes received on his post, which amounted to more than Rs 35,000.

Indians who lived abroad also helped in the relief operation. Honey Bhaskaran, a hospitality administrator in UAE, along with a team of 70 people. were taking requests for rescue on Facebook and passed it on to the state’s disaster management team, the Economic Times reported.

People stranded in the floods as well as those with missing relatives used social media platforms to ask for help after they couldn’t reach the helpline numbers.