Young techies develop app to help government in Andhra Pradesh assess real time relief operations and effectively battle the deluge

Andhra Pradesh Flood Volunteers Management System app streamlines real-time flood relief efforts with techies and volunteers.

A team of young techies, assisted by volunteers drawn from various quarters, has developed Andhra Pradesh Flood Volunteers Management System, an app that facilitates real-time assessment of the flood situation and the ongoing relief operations and helps the government to concentrate its relief and rescue efforts in those directions.

The chaos that ensued following torrential rains leading to inundation of vast swathes of residential colonies has been proving to be a major hindrance to the relief works in progress. Such a situation can leave wide scope for miscommunication, duplication of efforts and ineffective use of resources. Given the magnitude of the calamity, these techies realised that in the absence of proper coordination, relief supplies may not reach those in dire need of them and worst, they may even get wasted. “To establish clear communication channels, well defined roles and responsibilities and a unified approach, real-time feedback of information is key,” says Tejaswi Podapati president the Telugu Professionals’ Wing, which has developed the app.

“When the news of the floods of this intensity broke out, I was desperate to reach out to the affected people with relief material but I had no idea which direction to head,” she says, speaking to The Hindu. The idea of developing the application spawned from the urgent need to track real-time ground situation and streamline the government’s relief efforts, she says.

Soon, the members, with a large number of young volunteers in tow, huddled together and developed the app. The government officials approved and appreciated the app and put it into operation.

Small groups of volunteers have been wading through waist-deep water to reach areas that are inaccessible to any mode of transport, collecting information related to the immediate needs of the stranded residents which is uploaded in the app for the government officials to direct their efforts in these areas.

Groups of students from educational institutions like K.L. Deemed to be University, P. B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science, Dhanekula Engineering College and IT professionals from local firms have joined hands with the techies.

Yet another team of techies is actively involved in the food distribution drive under the banner of Vijayawada Needs You (VNU), headed by Naga Sravan Kilaru, who is also the State general secretary of the TDP’s youth wing.