Relief Efforts Gain Momentum as Support Reaches Disaster Hit Families in Punjab and Uttarakhand with CBM India Leading the Initiative

From food and hygiene kits to education materials, livelihoods help and assistive devices, CBM India strengthens recovery for the most affected groups.

CBM India has extended critical post disaster recovery assistance to two thousand families across the flood and landslide affected regions of Chamoli in Uttarakhand and Jalandhar in Punjab. The initiative reflects the organisation’s long standing commitment to inclusive humanitarian action and focuses on the needs of the most vulnerable groups including persons with disabilities, women, elderly people and children.
Months after the disaster, many households continue to rebuild their homes, routines and livelihoods. While government agencies and local partners have been active in relief efforts, the scale of devastation has left families requiring sustained support. CBM India’s intervention supplements ongoing work by providing essential resources that help communities restore stability and regain confidence.

As part of the immediate recovery push, CBM India distributed dry food supplies and health and hygiene kits to two thousand people. The kits included staples such as wheat, rice, pulses, oil and spices, along with soap, toothpaste, sanitary napkins and other basic items that help families manage their daily needs with dignity.
In the coming months, the programme will provide assistive devices to persons with disabilities whose equipment was lost or damaged during the disaster. This support reinforces CBM India’s commitment to ensuring that inclusion remains central throughout the recovery cycle. The initiative will also roll out training sessions on community preparedness, early warning systems, shelter management, first aid, search and rescue, and psychosocial well being. All sessions are designed to encourage full participation from persons with disabilities and their families.

In Chamoli, the recovery programme includes additional support for education, household rebuilding and livelihood restoration. Two hundred and fifty children will receive school supplies and uniforms to ensure continuity in learning, while one hundred and twenty five families will receive essential household items including gas stoves, utensils, bedsheets and blankets. Tarpaulin sheets, warm clothing and solar lamps will also be distributed to families in areas with limited access to electricity.
A strong emphasis has been placed on rebuilding livelihoods. Seventy five individuals will receive training and support to begin or restart income generating activities such as beekeeping, small scale farming and animal husbandry. By helping families revive their economic stability, the programme aims to prevent further vulnerability and strengthen long term resilience.

Speaking about the initiative, Sony Thomas, Executive Director, CBM India, said, “Inclusive humanitarian action is at the core of our work. The immediate aftermath of a disaster may pass quickly, but families continue to struggle long after the headlines fade. Through this project, we are helping communities meet essential needs and restore their livelihoods so they can move toward a more secure and stable future.”
This initiative reflects CBM India’s broader humanitarian mandate, which spans emergency response, recovery, preparedness and disaster risk reduction. The organisation has been part of major national responses including the Odisha super cyclone, the Bhuj earthquake, the tsunami, the Kerala floods, the COVID 19 pandemic and Cyclone Remal in West Bengal. In the Sundarbans, CBM India has also undertaken a large scale mangrove restoration effort, planting over thirty thousand saplings in the past two years to protect coastal communities.

Through its focus on accessibility, equity and long term resilience, CBM India continues to support vulnerable groups in rebuilding their lives and strengthening their capacity to face future crises.

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