Estimate from AID India

According to an initial estimate by Balaji Sampath, the head of the Madras chapter of AID: "The total immediate relief budget (from my initial estimate) is about Rs. 20 Lakhs ($40k). This may go up to about Rs. 40 Lakhs ($80k). (This is what we need - ourselves and the other NGOs and community groups that we are working apart from what the government is providing.) The long term relief budget needed is more than a few crores - but whatever we can get we can make use of. One boat for 50 people costs about Rs. 1 Lakh ($2500). We will need about 10 boats for each community and will be working with about 100 communities - a total of about Rs. 10 crores (two million dollars). Housing will cost about Rs. 50,000 ($1000). There are more than 50,000 people who need this help. You can calculate the total budget required! We will of course also use the government relief support and try to reach to the most needy. But in spite of government funds, there will be a lot of need for rehab support that we will need directly as well. The scale of the problem is so much that we will need all the help we can get."