Expats in Gulf rally for India's flood hit
Indo-Asian News Service
Monday, October 06, 2008 (Dubai )

The large expatriate Indian community in the Gulf is mobilising its resources to provide aid to victims of the floods that hit India's northern and eastern regions last month.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), members of the Indian community have contributed over Rs14 million ($300,000), which would be sent as aid to flood victims in the worst hit states of Bihar and Orissa.

"We have collected 1.1 million dirhams (Rs.14.2 million) and hope to get around two million dirhams (Rs.25.8 million)," Bharatbhai Shah, a prominent Indian businessman and community leader here, said.

"We have set up a committee of eight members to handle the donations. The committee includes well-known Indian businessmen in Dubai like L.R. Lulla, Vinod Agani, Harish Pawani and K. Kumar," he added.

Describing this year's floods in Assam, Bihar and Orissa as no less a disaster than the Kutch earthquake and the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Shah said that he would be leaving for India after the festival of Diwali to take stock of the situation there.