Amazon India Sets Up Disaster Relief Hubs for Urgent Aid

Mumbai, Aug 9 (PTI) E-commerce giant Amazon India on Friday said it has set up four hubs, including a temporary hub in West Bengal, to deliver urgent relief material in less than 24 hours, as part of its disaster management strategy.

Located at Thane (Maharashtra), Faridabad (Haryana), Hyderabad (Telangana) and Purba Bardhaman in West Bengal, these disaster relief mitigating facilities will enable the company to swiftly mobilize resources and support communities affected by natural disasters like floods, cyclones, cold waves, among others, Amazon India said.

The locations of these hubs -- West, North, South and East of India -- have been strategically identified keeping network optimization in mind and developed by a team of experts at Amazon transportation services, it said.

The move comes in response to floods in several parts of the country due to heavy rainfall this year, the company said.

"Our disaster relief efforts are guided by our extensive logistic network, warehousing expertise and our collaborative approach to work closely with non-profit partners, dedicated relief workers, and selfless volunteers on ground," said Anita Kumar, Head Amazon Community Impact, India and APAC.

As part of the ongoing relief efforts, Amazon has delivered 10,890 shelter kits to the affected communities supporting over 10,000 families across 34 districts.

According to the company, till August 1, Amazon has committed 18,200 relief kits containing supplies of all types of food, non-food, shelter items, and have utilized 45 per cent of the pre-stocked supplies at the hubs for the year in response to, severed monsoon flooding across the Southwest and Northeast regions and the most recent landslides in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

This proactive approach has enabled the company to respond within 72 hours of receiving requests from grassroots partners, including non-profit organizations, inter-agency groups, and state disaster management authorities, it said.