Disaster Response

COVID-19 Response

When the pandemic struck the world out of the blue in 2020, The Foundation made collective efforts to provide tangible help and communicate vital information deemed essential for a healthier community. We quickly rallied and started to take stock of the situation and innovate on how we could reach out to our community of 34,000 people to keep them informed and safe.

Our Covid-19 awareness campaign focusing on four major aspects of preventive care, including {1} Periodic cleansing of hand with soap {2} use of right quality & correct use of mask {3} maintaining the safe distance as per the Govt. guideline {4} vaccination against Covid.

With the onset of second and third wave, we doubled up our ongoing efforts and emphasised additional consideration for homeless and daily labourers. Due to loss of livelihood, they were facing serious hardship and struggled for two square meals a day. BIPF reached out to the entire community and helped them to stay home and stay safe. The Covid outreach also included the distribution of PPE kits, face masks, hand sanitizers and liquid soaps.

Social media and wall paintings were the routes we chose to debunk misconceptions, while at the same time, building awareness and providing support. Wellness kits and tele-counselling were made available to those seeking information as well as those suffering from related conditions such as anxiety.

This was made possible through the active participation of the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI), auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), Anganwadi workers (AWW) and accredited social healthcare (ASHA) workers.

Natural Calamities and Disasters Response

On 12 October 2013, Odisha dealt with a severe natural disaster – Phailin. It was categorized as a Very Severe Cyclone and occurred only fourteen years after the Super Cyclone of 1999. Phailin, with a wind speed of 200-220 km/h, caused massive destruction and flooding in Ganjam, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack, Puri, and Khurda districts.

After the destruction, when people began returning to their homes, they faced a massive challenge of rebuilding their lives. There was a loss of 621,184 hectares of agricultural and horticultural land. 376,921 homes were severely damaged. There was a danger of increased transmission of waterborne diseases with no fresh water supply and poor sanitation and hygiene conditions.

BIPF decided to reach out and support those who were affected. BIPF distributed food grains, tarpaulin sheets, and other essential requirements to the people affected by the calamity. It also provided food grains to District Administration for mass cooking. In addition, BIPF along with IMFA made a donation to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

In 2017, floods wreaked havoc in Odisha’s Rayagada district. To help those who were affected, IMFA made a donation to the District Magistrate of Rayagada. In addition, IMFA also contributed cooked food and relief packets of dry foods such as flat rice, molasses, biscuits, candle, and matchbox which were distributed in the rehabilitation centers.

IMFA is committed to doing its bit for rehabilitating those who get affected by natural calamities and disasters.