TWO hundred Aquaboxes have now arrived in India to help villages devastated by flooding.

The boxes contain water purification kits as well as essential humanitarian aid.

They have been packed and paid for by the Aquabox charity, which is currently being supported by the Derby Telegraph's Give Water, Give Life campaign.

The appeal, launched in November, has so far raised £100,000 to help the charity – run by the Rotary Club of Wirksworth – continue its life-saving work.

The Aquaboxes will be distributed in two villages in India's Andhra Pradesh district, which was badly hit by the 2004 tsunami and has recently suffered from further, devastating floods.

Dr Ravi Vadlamani, a rotarian in India who is helping to distribute the boxes, said: "We have distributed the Aquaboxes in Zinkapalem and Gorrelamandi villages in Krishna district.

"These are island villages and were totally inundated during the floods."

In the last few weeks, the Aquabox charity has shipped more than 800 boxes to earthquake-hit Haiti as well as 200 to Albania, which was also devastated by recent flooding.

Volunteers have been working round the clock to get the shipments ready, packing boxes six mornings a week instead of the usual two.

The load shipped out to Haiti on Wednesday contained 588 standard Aquaboxes and 30 Aqua30s.

The standard Aquaboxes contain one water purification kit capable of cleaning 1,100 litres of water, as well as welfare items.

Each Aqua30 contains 30 water purification kits. Volunteers are now working to get another batch of 600 boxes ready for shipment in the next few weeks.

Dr Vadlamani said the boxes were invaluable to the people in the villages in the Andhra Pradesh district.

In October, the area was hit by the worst floods in more than 100 years, which left a trail of death and destruction.

The survivors living there are still struggling in the aftermath of the floods.

Dr Vadlamani said: "I would like to thank everyone from Aquabox.

"I do hope that I can make a visit to the UK and thank them personally for their wonderful support. People like them truly make a difference in the world."