Hare Krishna.
On behalf of ISKCON Gangasagar, I would like to inform you that the very severe cyclonic storm ‘Cyclone YAAS’, with wind speeds touching 135 kmph, made landfall near Sagar Island, West Bengal on May 26, 2020.
On that day ISKCON Gangasagar temple faced a sudden overflow of 4 ft high seawater because the cyclone lashed the surrounding embankments. The damages are ten times more than those from any of the previous cyclones (BULBUL, PHANI, AMPHAN) or natural calamities in this region. Forty percent of the people of this island lost their homes or household commodities or food stock or livestock at the time of the COVID pandemic and lockdown with no money left. Now they are also frightened of becoming infected by COVID since they have spent 48 hours in the cyclone shelter where maintenance of social distancing was a nightmare.
Two days later the danger level of water decreased. ISKCON devotees and other villagers have returned from their temporary shelter. As of today, our ashram and kitchen are under 2 feet of seawater. ISKCON Gangasagar has completely lost its financial strength -- the book and paraphernalia godown as well as our grocery stock. This stock of grocery was recently gathered to be utilized as a precaution during the lockdown extension, COVID relief initiatives, and relief from impending cyclones or other natural disasters. (But we didn’t expect this degree of damage.) The 64 KV generator and electrical wiring have been under saline water. The deity rooms and all the festival materials have been damaged.
Please note that ISKCON Gangasagar temple was prepared to face a regular cyclone but not to this extent with 5 feet of water level increasing within an hour because of the unexpected and sudden damage of surrounding dams.
The damages are estimated at more than Rs. 25,00,000/-. We are not able to rebuild our losses by ourselves, so we are appealing to you for your kind help.
Previous grocery bills are unpaid and our grocery shelf is empty. Restoration of the temple and repairing the huts of the local villagers are the priority. Also, we cannot ignore providing free meals to the cyclone-affected poor people, sadhus, and others who live nearby, well below the poverty line.
We appeal to devotees around the world to please donate generously. With your donations, damaged structures can be repaired. Devotees can return to their ashrams. Our infrastructure can return to the new normal and continue to serve the deity and Srila Prabhupada.
If you are interested, visit https://www.facebook.com/SriSundarGovindDas/ to get the latest updated photo and video reports of water increasing and our post-cyclone charity activities.
For more information please feel free to me on my mobile 973-5333-511 /987-4437-164.
Thanking you,
Yours in the service of Humanity,
Sri Sundar Govind Das
Temple President, ISKCON Gangasagar
Our bank details for Indian Citizen only.
Bank Name: State Bank of India
Account Name: ISKCON GANGASAGAR FUND
A/c No.: 3633 0963 038
RTGS/IFSC code: SBIN 000 8890
Bank Address: Vill-Kalibazar, PO. Sagar,
Dist. South 24 Parganas,WB, India -743373.
