Sahanaya Yathra : Second Relief Convoy Rolls Out in Record Time

COLOMBO (News 1st) The Sirasa Shakthi ‘Sahanaya Yathra’ - the relief convoy spearheaded by the Maharaja Media Network of the Capital Maharaja Group - rolled out its second deployment in less than 12 hours, departing at 1:00 PM on Sunday to deliver urgently needed supplies to communities cut off by rising waters and landslides.

The rapid turnaround underscores a relief mechanism moving at the speed of need, mobilized across districts where access roads are compromised, families are displaced, and essential services stretched thin.

The ‘Sahanaya Yathra’ initiative, launched amid Sri Lanka’s storm-torn reality, called on citizens nationwide to rally with dry rations, clothing, water, medicines, hygiene items, and emergency essentials.

From the moment the call went out, the response was overwhelming. Organized collection centers - including MTV Head Office (Colombo 02), Depanama Studio Complex, Stein Studios (Ratmalana), Kandy City Centre (KCC), and Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre (Kotahena) - became hubs of compassion, logistics, and hope, working around the clock to sort, package, and load supplies for rapid dispatch to flood-affected districts.

Across Sri Lanka, people from all walks of life showed up, with donation bags with rice, dhal, biscuits, sanitary pads, and bottled water.

Families came with multi-day care packs: ready-to-eat food, baby formula, blankets, basic medicines.

In every center, queues snaked past gates; volunteers triaged and repacked to match field requests; convoy manifests were updated in real time to prioritize the hardest-hit areas reported by ground teams and provincial stringers.

By mid-day Sunday, the second convoy - a mix of light and heavy vehicles including 4X4s - took to the road under a coordinated routing plan, designed to reach cut-off pockets, leverage workable corridors, and rendezvous with local distribution points to ensure swift handover to families sheltering in schools, temples, churches, mosques, and makeshift centers.

The operational tempo mirrors the campaign’s stated intent: to move relief where it is needed most, fast, tapping the reach and experience of the network’s provincial correspondents and the collective muscle of citizen donors.

Since its launch, ‘Sahanaya Yathra’ has been more than an aid drive - it’s a movement of solidarity. The language of the campaign is simple and powerful: bring what you can, today.

In practice, that has meant back-to-back deployments, overnight sorting lines, and on-air appeals that translate into truckloads by morning.

The second convoy in under twelve hours confirms what the first convoy proved: when a nation calls, Sri Lanka answers - together.