THE DAY AFTER…
Statesman News Service
KOLKATA, 26 MAY: Cyclonic storm Aila finally moved towards Jharkhand today but not before claiming 65 lives and rendering over 61,000 people homeless. Meanwhile, at least 20 people died, four went missing and several others were badly injured in massive landslides across the Darjeeling Hills since early today.The state chief secretary, Mr Asok Mohan Chakrabarti, put the number of storm-affected people at 2.2 million. He said at Writers' Buildings today that 109 relief camps had been set up in different places. More than 61,000 houses collapsed in the districts. More than 132,000 houses were partially damaged. A total of 61,000 people have taken shelter at various relief camps.The state government has sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for the affected people. According to reports reaching Writers', 16 people were killed in the storm in North 24-Parganas while 15 deaths were reported from South 24-Parganas. Seven people died in Howrah, while five people in the city lost their lives during the storm. Two deaths were reported from Midnapore East and Malda while Murshidabad and Birbhum reported three and two deaths, respectively. Five people have died in Hooghly, officials said.Mr Chakrabarti said two columns of Army had been pressed into rescue operations in North and South 24-Parganas. Dry food and water pouches were dropped from helicopters in affected areas. The Centre has rushed four companies of National Disaster Response Force to South and North 24 Parganas. Army and Air Force helicopters have also been pressed into service for supplying essential commodities and rescuing the marooned. The home ministry assured the state government that it would ensure all assistance that may be required. Though rescue operation began yesterday, relief material couldn't be distributed to affected people in many remote places in worst-hit South 24-Parganas. Earlier in the day, chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and railway minister Miss Mamata Banerjee visited relief camps in the district and inspected the devastation caused by Aila. People displaced from their homes complained to the ministers about inadequate relief material. The city ~ where seven people were killed in the storm yesterday ~ is struggling hard to come back to normal as several roads remained blocked and a large number of pockets witnessed prolonged power cuts.The storm hit districts like Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad, Bankura late in the evening yesterday after hitting South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Howrah in the afternoon. In South 24 Parganas, ~ the worst hit district ~ about 60,000 homeless people have been shifted to 43 relief camps. Mr Khalil Ahmad, district magistrate, said stress was being laid on providing food and safe drinking water to the affected who had taken shelter in the relief camps. According to a spokesperson of the South Eastern Railway, five express trains were cancelled and three rescheduled today. Officials said eight local trains in Sealdah South section were cancelled this morning. Malda: In Malda, one person was killed and 10 were injured in the cyclone last night. The deceased has been identified as Anil Choudhury , resident of Kachupukur village in Habibpur block. His wife and others were injured seriously when their house collapsed. Mango cultivation has incurred huge losses estimated to exceed Rs 4 crore in the district. Besides, vegetables, bananas and betel leaves worth Rs 3.5 crore are also reported to have been destroyed. North Dinajpur: In North Dinajpur, around 5,000 huts collapsed and another 10,000 were partly damaged in all nine blocks of Islampur, Chopra, Goalpokhar-1, Goalpokhar-2, Karandighi, Raiganj, Hemtabad ,Itahar and Kaliyaganj. Cooch Behar: The storm claimed one life and damaged about 14,000 dwellings in the district. Jalpaiguri: Several birds in the Buxa Tiger reserve forest were killed in the cyclone and torrential rain. South Dinajpur: A 35-year old woman who sustained severe injuries in a house collapse in South Dinajpur during the storm died in hospital this evening. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during the next 24 hours, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.
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