Even as torrential rains in Chennai virtually stall life in the city with thousands still stranded without food, water, electricity and roofs above their heads, several online firms and brands are making most of technology to alleviate distress.
The latest to join the bandwagon is online food delivery app Zomato, which on Wednesday launched a ‘Meal for Flood relief’ delivery service for people stranded in Chennai by annoucing it through a Twitter post.
Zomato’s CEO Deepinder Goyal tweeted, “Help get food to those affected by #ChennaiRains. We buy a meal for each one you buy here: http://zoma.to/chennairelief”.
With every meal bought by anyone, Zomato contributed a meal from their side and ensured that it’s delivered to those in need at the flood-affected areas in Chennai.
Within just 11 hours of going live yesterday, the company reached a 55,000 meals mark, making the final tally to 1,10,000 meals. It has now paused the services due to the distribution backlog.
Its meal plan was reportedly supported by seven famous city restaurants, including Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Prems Graama Bhojanam, Kolapasi, Dindigul Thalappakati, Nawab Sheikh Biryani, Meat and Eat and Katti Roll. It had also tied up with multiple partners for speedy distribution of the meals, which includes Delhivery, RHA and Chennai volunteers.
Mobile payment and commerce marketplace, Paytm is offering Rs. 30 worth of free talk-time to anyone who would like to remain connected.
Practo, the healthcare discovery platform, is reportedly calling doctors listed on their platform to see if they are available to lend services to those affected. The company has created a Google document and is crowdsourcing data, and validating doctors before it is open for public.
In recent days, cab aggregator Ola made headlines after launching Ola Boats to help rescue people in waterlogged and partially submerged areas of Chennai on the basis of information from the Fire and Rescue department.
It has now created safety zones in central and north Chennai, equipped with relief supplies and first aid. This service is open to everyone, free of cost, with address details and contact numbers provided on its blog.
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