Calcutta: He drove 2,645km over 66 hours to deliver aid to Kerala flood victims. As the Kochi airport shut down and rail services remained suspended, south Calcutta builder Abhishek Das took to the wheel of his Toyota Fortuner to reach the flood-ravaged state.

Das, along with nine volunteers, left his Santoshpur home on August 21 and reached Thiruvananthapuram on August 24 morning.

"The Thiruvananthapuram airport was open and functioning, but I did not know whether the things I wanted to take would be allowed on flight. So I drove," Das said.

The team of 10 packed into Das's Fortuner and a Hyundai Creta along with medicines, first aid, diapers, cotton, sanitary napkins, biscuits, fruit juice and water.

The cars took NH6 to reach Kharagpur and then onto NH16 before going through Berhampore, Vizag, Guntur and Chennai. From Salem, they took the road to Kochi and then onto Thiruvananthapuram. "We drove continuously for 62 hours with just four hours' rest in between," Das said.

The journey was smooth except for the stretch between Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram where landslides had damaged a portion of the road. "We were stuck there for one-and-a-half hours," Das said.

Only six of the 39 toll gates along the way charged the cars. "Before starting out, we had heard that all vehicles carrying relief to Kerala would be exempt from toll. So I went to Lalbazar to request for a document certifying that the vehicles were carrying relief. But I was told that the commissioner was not authorised to issue such a document. I went to the public vehicles department, too, but in vain. So we put up festoons on the vehicles announcing relief for Kerala," said Das, who spent Rs 76,000 on fuel to deliver aid worth Rs 1.75 lakh.

On reaching Thiruvananthapuram, a Bengali media person helped Das connect with an IAS officer, who immediately made arrangements for the team to visit a relief centre at Nishagandhi Auditorium in Kanakakunnu, Thiruvananthapuram.

"At the auditorium, we saw a large number of people meticulously sorting relief material. We were received by IAS officer Haritha V Kumar, who was extremely helpful," Das said.

The team saw an Air Force vehicle arrive at the centre and volunteers get to work sorting materials, listing them and sending them to towns and villages depending on need.

A school bus brought relief materials for the affected areas in the backwaters. "We were very impressed by the efficiency and clockwork precision with which aid was being administered," said Das, who returned to Calcutta on August 27.