Devastated by repeated lockdowns with subsequent loss of jobs over the past year, the under-served communities in West Bengal have been made even more vulnerable by the more contagious new strains of COVID-19. The daily wage workers had little money saved for the future and became jobless again due to the lockdown announced in May 2021. The growing food insecurity has led to increased rates of diseases and ailments, especially among children and women, making them more susceptible to the virus. HOPE identified families living on the streets and slums of Kolkata and Howrah and distributed food packets to these families from May 2021.
On the other hand cyclone Yaas made another round of misery mainly in the Sundarban Delta exactly after a year of the cyclone Amphan. HOPE Emergency Response Team reached out remote villages of Sundarban with relief materials including dry food, clothes, tarpaulin in a regular interval for two months.
