Monday, January 10 2005 16:03 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The International Red Cross has raised an estimated $ 100 million for tsunami relief work, its Vice-President Murli Deora, M P, said in Mumbai today (Jan 10, 2005).

Deora as well as Juan Manuel Suarez Del Toro Rivero, Red Cross President, and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, who is also the Chairman of the Foundation for International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, visited tsunami-hit areas in Sri Lanka yesterday (Jan 9, 2005).

During the visit they also met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and underlined the importance of engaging private sector in the medium and long-term recovery and rehabilitation programmes.

Emphasising the need to mobilise additional resources to augment the existing efforts of relief and rehabilitation, Ambani said, "Across the Indian ocean rim, livelihood, infrastructure and markets have been devastated. We must address the long-term consequences of the disaster. The socio-economic recovery from this disaster demands sustained and long-term interventions."