DUBAI: UAE-based businessmen had pledged 12.5 crore for relief operations in the rain-battered Kerala.
MA Yusuff Ali, a Kerala-born billionaire have pledged financial support to flood-stricken Kerala, according to media reports.
Yusuff, Chairman and Managing Director of Lulu Group conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas and donated 9.23 million UAE dirhams to help the rain-hit Kerala, reported ANI.
The philanthropist business personality so far became the highest contributor to the cause as an individual.
In view of the grim humanitarian crisis, the initiatives from LULU Group International inspired many like-minded businessmen in and around the Gulf region who come forward and generously contributed to the state’s relief and rehabilitation works.
KP Hussain, Chairman of Fathima Healthcare Group, has donated Rs 5 crore. According to Hussain, Rs 1 crore will directly go to the Kerala Chief Minister’s relief fund and the rest will be allocated for medical relief aid, reports Khaleej Times.
Hussain said that the group has coordinated with the state’s health secretary to send volunteers from its medical faculty, which includes doctors and paramedics, to relief camps.
BR Shetty, chairman of Unimoni and UAE Exchange, had pledged Rs 2 crore.
Azad Moopen, an Indian physician, and philanthropist, and founder Chairman and MD of Aster DM Healthcare pledged Rs 50 lakh.
Contributions started pouring in after UAE Prime Minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ordered the formation of an emergency committee to contribute generously to provide relief to the victims hit by devastating rains and floods in the state.
As of Sunday, the toll from the torrential rains and the subsequent floods that have ravaged Kerala since August 9 stood at 370.