Canadian Kannadigas help Karnataka 'breathe easy'

Within 20 days, the group collected more than $40,000 (equivalent to Rs 29 lakh) and sent 25 oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment

Nearly 400 Kannadigas in various cities of Canada were unable to breathe easy when Karnataka, especially its smaller towns and villages, were grasping for medical oxygen due to the onslaught of the second Covid-19 wave.

Sitting in another corner of the world, their desire to help their motherland grew and they started ‘Usiradali Karnataka’ and started fundraising. Within 20 days, they collected more than $40,000 (equivalent to Rs 29 lakh) and sent 25 oxygen concentrators and other medical equipment to India. The oxygen concentrators thus received were dispatched to rural hospitals in Karkala, Udupi, Gadag, Belgaum, Dharwad, Bagalkot Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Karwar, Tiptur, Thippasandra (Bangalore rural), Jungles of Kodagu and Chamarajanagar (for Anti-Naxal Forces).

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And they are not done yet. In a second phase, the group is collecting funds to provide Covid preventive materials like masks and sanitisers to select villages in Karnataka. They are also making plans to rehabilitate kids orphaned due to Covid-19 and helping street vendors and small-scale businesses to restart their lives.

“The second wave of Covid has hit Karnataka hard. Reading the news reports from the State we were worried and could not sit silent. So we (Vishal Girisagar and Dr Kishor Bhattad) formed a panel of 25 members to raise funds and help our motherland,” said Nandakumar Chowdappa, one of the founding members of ‘Usiradali Karnataka’ and a resident of Guelph, Canada.

With the help of various Kannada Organisations in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo and London, the members were able to reach 400 Kannadigas in Canada and garner the funds.

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Even during the first wave, the members were in touch with the state bureaucrats Seemant Kumar Singh (ADGP, Bengaluru) and Dr Kishor Bhattad (Deputy Commissioner, IRS, Bengaluru), to help migrant labours and others in their personal capacity. “When we contacted them (the bureaucrats), they advised us to provide oxygen concentrators to towns and villages, which not only lacked medical facilities but were also witnessing a spike in the Covid cases. Through the help of Team O2, an NGO working on the ground in Karnataka, we dispatched the medical materials,” said Nandakumar.

The panel has also started a helpline through which the local volunteers can contact the doctors (Dr Arun Prakash and Dr Hosahalli Ramaswamy) who are practising in Canada and receive timely medical advice.