Google to give ₹39 crore for flood relief in North East and Bangladesh, launches SOS alert in Search

Google said that it will give $500,000 (approx ₹39 crore) to support organisations providing emergency support and relief to people affected by the recent floods in North-Eastern states of India including Assam and neighboring regions of Bangladesh. 

Over 55 lakh people across 32 districts have been affected by the flood in Assam, according to a Mint report. 

The financial support by Google will be provided through the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) to those organisations that are working on the ground to provide dry rations, direct cash assistance, and hygiene kits among other things. CDP is a US-based disaster relief group owned by the non-profit organisation New Venture Fund. It helps international donors fund disaster relief efforts across the world. CDP has also been active in raising funds for relief during Covid-19. 

In addition to financial support, Google is also starting a donation campaign for Google employees. Google said it will match 100% of the fund raised by employees to support the flood relief efforts. To help users donate to flood relief, Google is giving space to organisations such as Smile Foundation and Goonj on the Google Pay app. The company believes that this will 

“make it easy for people looking to donate funds.” 

Google said that it will add more organisations which are running fundraising efforts for flood relief to the Pay app. 

Further, Google has also launched the SOS alert for Assam floods on Google Search. This means users in flood-affected regions will see emergency phone numbers, websites, articles, and maps on top of the search results. Elsewhere, SOS alerts can be used by family and friends to get the latest updates on the flood-affected regions. Launched in 2017 in Search and Maps, the SOS alert provides users with more relevant information during natural disasters.