HPCL Refinery Blast, Vishakhapatnam - 1997

In September 1997, fifty-six workers were killed in a major fire accident in the refinery due to a spark in the LPG pipeline between the port and the Vizag refinery.

● 500 Crores worth of damage in the Blast
● 54 bodies were recovered from the debris

Super Cyclone Gujarat - 1998

● 2871 killed; 893 injured; 4,600,893 total affected; US$ 3,010,000 damage
● Food, necessary household goods, and medicines were distributed
● Mobile medical van catered to the victims of more than 30 villages
● Constructed houses and community centres in 8 villages

Super Cyclone Orissa - 1999

● 350 Sewa volunteers went for rescue and distribution of relief supplies
● 50 food and nutrition camps serving free food to over 10,000 people every day for a month
● A residential school at Gatiroutpatna, Cuttack district was constructed

Earthquake Gujarat - 2001

● 6.3 million people were affected
● 20,086 people died, and around 300,000 houses collapsed
● Distribution of essential commodities like clothes, lanterns, candles, matchboxes, food, plastic buckets, mugs and tarpaulin sheets, etc.
● A temporary hospital was made operational in Bhuj (Dr. Hedgewar Hospital) for the victims of the earthquake and 2 mobile medical vans were started
● Constructed houses, and schools, and rehabilitated 14 villages
● Initiated capacity building and workshops on legal literacy with inculcating skills related to entrepreneurship

Drought Relief Rajasthan - 2001

● Relief activities near Jodhpur provide medical assistance in far-flung villages close to the Indo-Pak borders
● Veterinary assistance and temporary cattle sheds were erected in the affected region to provide fodder to the cattle
● Tractors with water tanks were deployed to carry the water to the water- starved villages
● 2 boys' hostels were constructed in Jodhpur

Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami - 2004

● 5824 volunteers- 5524 male and 300 female volunteers were engaged in relief works
● 125 relief camps were set up distributing relief materials to more than 25,000 families
● Conducted 68 medical camps in 13 affected districts of Tamil Nadu

Jammu & Kashmir Earthquake - 2005

● Relief materials were distributed such as shelters (tents), warm clothes, blankets, food, and medicine to remote corners where even the Government agencies could not reach
● Monetary help to 95 families was also provided for getting their damaged houses repaired
● Medical services were also started for 15 days in the affected regions, including six medical camps with free medicines
● Constructed a community hall-cum-rescue centre, 4 schools, and 1 dispensary

Maharashtra Floods - 2006

We organised rescue and relief operations at multiple locations in flood-affected Maharashtra.

● Water bottles, food packets, food grains, and medicines were supplied to thousands of affected people
● Health camps were organised in 21 villages2
● 2 mobile medical vans were deployed for service

Bihar Floods - 2007

● Started operating relief centres in six different localities of Darbhanga town, providing food, clothing, temporary shelter, medicines and so forth, which were collected through the door-to-door campaign
● Regular health camps were organised in the affected districts to prevent the spread of diseases

Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Floods - 2009

Local volunteers responded to the situation instantaneously and started rescuing people to safer places and then providing them with the much-needed food and drinking water.

● 5 feeding camps serving over 10,000 people
● Constructed 5 community development centres benefitting 15,700 flood- affected people
● Started two mobile dispensaries connecting 17 villages

Leh Cloudburst - 2010

Our volunteers started all-out rescue and relief operations, establishing a relief camp in Leh to provide shelter to the affected people. A relief package of 2,000 blankets, a set of utensils for 500 families, 2,000 clothes, and 500 shoes was distributed at the calamity site.

Jammu and Kashmir Floods - 2011

● Conducted 128 medical camps in 84 villages of the Kashmir valley
● Distributed more than 13000 blankets, 250 solar lamps, and 20,000 food packets
● Rs. 3100 per family was given to 200 families for rebuilding their houses

Cyclone Thane - 2011

Our volunteers cleared the uprooted trees and electric poles which helped the linemen to attend and restore electricity immediately in some parts of Puducherry town.

● 3 kgs of rice were distributed along with candles, matchboxes, mosquito coils, etc. to 1200 houses of Vandipalayam and Pudupallayam villages
● Food packets were distributed to 5 most affected fishing hamlets for 100 people
● Mosquito coils, matchboxes, candles, and bread packets were distributed to 600 houses at five places in Puducherry town

Uttarakhand Floods - 2013

We provided immediate relief and rescue services such as food distribution camps, medical camps, rescue assistance, etc.

● Flood-devastated villagers who had been rendered shelterless were shifted to safer places/temporary shelters by volunteers
● Distributed pulses, rice, sugar, tea, spices, clothes, blankets, milk powder, water bottles, medicines, biscuits, and other material/civil supplies
● Conducted acupressure, yoga, and meditation classes as a part of counselling

Hudhud Cyclone Relief - 2014

Sewa International through its local partner, Kshatriya Seva Samiti provided immediate support for rescue and relief activities. 550 sets of custom-made relief kits consisting of repairing materials like tarpaulin sheets, rope, blankets, etc. for their shelter/homes were distributed among the needy in 6 villages.

Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh Floods - 2015

Relief materials were distributed at Thiruneermalai, Maduravoyal, TB Hospital, Tambaram, and Chromepet.

● 1700 food packets, 100 biscuit packets, and 400 water packets were distributed in each affected area
● Each relief kit cost Rs. 4000 which included transportation as well

Kerala Floods - 2018

Sewa International initiated an immediate relief and rescue operation. It launched a 24*7 emergency helpline number along with a dedicated WhatsApp group with multiple helpline centres across Kerala.

● Over 14,100 volunteers were directly involved in rescue activities in affected districts of Kerala
● Around 350 boats, 75 ambulances, and 300 transport vehicles were involved
● Distributed 2,155 tonnes of food grains and household essentials to 105,000 families
● Provided 24 newly constructed houses to flood victims
● Restored 70 school buildings in the Alappuzha district that were severely damaged
● Established 14 counselling centres across 9 districts

Maharashtra Floods - 2019

● Medical camps were organized for the residents infected by a viral infection and water-borne diseases in 13 villages of Shirol Taluka, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
● A total of 1500 school kits were distributed to 20 schools
● 7 damaged schools in Kolhapur were restored.

Cyclone Nisarga and Nivar - 2020

Nisarga
● Provided shelters/roofs and donated 350 tin sheets and 30 tarpaulins to 28 tribal families
● Set up relief camps, served cooked food, cleared roads/tracks by cutting or removing damaged/uprooted trees

Nivar
● Covered about 19 Villages and distributed 604 tarpaulins, 1069 bedsheets & 1069 plastic mats to the underprivileged & vulnerable people

COVID-19 - 2020-21

It took only a few weeks for COVID-19 complacency to turn into an overwhelming sense of despair, anguish, and anger. India had drowned under a surge of cases and causing mayhem.

Countless stories of desperate people unable to get medical treatment and people dying after being turned away from hospitals engulfed the nation.

Not only was the surge far more aggressive and deadly than the one India endured in 2020, but it also affected the lives and livelihood of a large population. Sewa International distributed the following items during the second wave of COVID-19:
● 11680 Health and Hygiene kits distributed
● 32 Oxygen plants
● 5875 O2 concentrators distributed
● 273 Ventilators distributed

Uttarakhand Glacier Burst - 2021

On the morning of 7th Feb '21, a massive glacier burst shook the entire nation. The burst led to flash floods in the valley areas of Tapovan, Chamoli, and Rudraprayag areas of Uttarakhand. The gushing waters took hundreds of lives along the way and destroyed the livelihood of more than 300 families with massive damages to houses, crops, livestock, and infrastructure.

● 10 villages covered through health centres
● 50 farmers trained
● 22 students supported in education