Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates (UAE) based-Indian hospital group Aster DM Healthcare provided 255 Aster homes to the victims of the 2018 Kerala floods, who lost everything to the devastating calamity.
In August 2018, severe floods hit the southern Indian state of Kerala due to unusually heavy rainfall during the monsoon season.
This was the worst flood in Kerala in almost a century.
More than 483 people lost their lives to the calamity, and 15 were reportedly missing.
In 2018, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the mission Rebuild Kerala for the rehabilitation of the flood victims and assured that Aster homes will be provided.
On Saturday, August 27, at a grand ceremony held in Thiruvananthapuram, keys to the beneficiaries were handed over by the Governor of Kerala, Arif Mohammad Khan in the presence of other guests.
The function also saw the launch of Aster Homes’ official website geotagged with the details of the 255 beneficiaries, the individuals, NGOs and associations who supported the mission.
As per the promise made,
- The new homes have been built for people who have lost their houses and own land, for whom individual sustainable housing designs have been considered
- Cluster homes for a group of people on the land provided free of cost by a few Philanthropists
- Retro-fitting of partially damaged homes.
The construction of 255 houses was completed by spending 15 crore rupees. About 60 Aster employees also collaborated in this initiative, raising 22.5 million rupees to build 45 homes.
Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare, Dr Azad Moopen, said in his introductory remarks, “We feel accomplished that today, that promise has been fulfilled with the dedication of the last batch of the 255 houses to the beneficiaries by the Hon Governor, Shri Arif Mohamad Khan here in Trivandrum itself. We are happy that together we could walk the talk and deliver the promise.”
“This was a mammoth task which was accomplished through perseverance and hard work of the Aster Volunteers, with support from like-minded organisations and people,” he added.
Aster DM Healthcare is one of the larger healthcare service providers operating in India and the Middle East.
The company operates 27 hospitals, 115 clinics and 225 pharmacies with more than 21,000 employees. These include more than 2,880 doctors, 6,280 nurses, and nearly 11,000 support staff.
