August 7, 2013: Moved by the extensive loss to life and property due to the landslides and floods that laid waste large areas of the Indian state of Uttarakhand recently, prominent community members and volunteers in the GTA swung into action to raise money and mobilize resources locally to help the flood-affected victims.

The grassroots community effort registered its first milestone last weekend.

Operating under the umbrella of the Hindu Institute of Learning, a group of like-minded individuals associated with several temples, gurdwaras and socio-cultural organizations right across the GTA got together to hand over 100 per cent of the collections last weekend.

Event coordinator Mahendra Gupta handed over a cheque for $10,000 to Sewa International Canada President Ashok Gautam.

“The project actually evolved from an idea my friend Raj Chadha initially had, to help the Uttarakand flood victims by seeking wide representation from temples, gurdwaras and other organizations across the GTA,” explained Gupta, in handing over the cheque, along with several who had a hand in raising the funds.

“Our initial target was $5,000. But such was the outpouring of support that we managed to eventually raise double that,” he added, to popular applause.

The project initially started a few weeks ago when a Ma Durga Chowki was held at Gur Mandir in Etobicoke to launch the Uttarakhand Relief Fund as the GTA’s response to help disaster victims at Kedarnath and Hemkund Sahib, after the floods and landslides wreaked havoc on pilgrims at the Himalayan foothills in India.

The launch at the Gur Sindhi Mandir itself attracted a sizeable turnout, with other charitable organizations quickly getting the ball rolling at their own respective venues.

The Uttarakhand Disaster Management Minister estimated the death toll at over 5,000, with hundreds of thousands of people also rendered homeless. Rehabilitation is expected to cost millions of dollars.

“As we’d said earlier, every single penny of the donation we’d collected is being handed over to Sewa International Canada, to be sent on to Uttarakhand,” Gupta added. “There were no administrative costs — and what costs there were, were absorbed by the temples and other institutions involved.”

Apart from Gur Mandir, those institutions which actively supported the initiative included Naamdhari Sikh Sangat Canada, Vaishno Devi Temple Oakville, Bharat Mata Mandir Brampton, Laxmi Narayan Mandir Scarborough, North York Sikh Temple North York, and Hindi Writers’ Guild.

Apart from Gupta and Chadha, those community members who played a leading part in the GTA-wide initiative included Raj Kumar Sharma, Mohan Sookdeo, Asha Maharaj, Dev Bhatia, Vijaya Kumar Vikrant, Capt Surinder Sikand, Kalyan Harpalani, Gauri Shankar, Bhupender Sikand, Suba Resham Singh, Gurdev Singh Mann, Hari Goyal, Ravinder Singh Virdi, Naval Ganotra, Jeff Lall and K.S. Marwaha, among others.

Source: South Asian Focus, DT. August 7, 2013.