န Cyclone "Aila" toll rises to 121 in Bangladesh and 82 in West Bengal

Dhaka, Kolkata, 27 May : The death toll from Cyclone Aila rose to 121 in Bangladesh as thousands of people in coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal in both Bangladesh and West Bengal were marooned.The storm that ripped through the south-western coast Monday has left at least 32 people dead in Satkhira, 25 in Noakhali, 20 in Khulna, 13 in Bhola, nine in Barisal, seven in Patuakhali, six in Laxmipur, two each in Bagerhat and Cox's Bazar, and one in Magura, according to reports from the affected areas. Besides, two people in Chapainawabganj and one each in Natore and Lalmonirhat are among the cyclone fatalities, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency said. The food and disaster management ministry, however, put the body count at 91, The Daily Star said on Wednesday.Cyclone Aila also battered coastal West Bengal in India Monday, especially South 24 Parganas district, uprooting trees, snapping power cables and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The cyclone left 82 people dead in West Bengal and affected more than 400,000 others. န Photo : Indrajit Dutta

န Death toll in landslide mounts to 21 in Darjeeling hill

Siliguri, Kolkata, 27 May : Death toll in landslides today mounted to 21 with recovery of five more bodies from the debris by army rescuers in Darjeeling where the hill areas remained cut off from the plains for the second day."I have asked Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen to rush to Darjeeling tomorrow to monitor the situation and speed up relief and rescue operations," WB Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told reporters. 16 bodies were recovered on Tuesday. "A special fund has been released to the district administration, and two teams of BSF's National Disaster Management force rushed to Darjeeling today," the Chief Minister said. Darjeeling, he said, remained cut off from Siliguri in the plains for the second day as all roads were blocked by landslides.Personnel of the 123 Mountain Brigade who began rescue operations last evening scoured the landslide-affected areas and recovered the bodies, Additional District Magistrate (General) P Zimba told Bengal Newz. Electricity was partially restored and there was no immediate shortage of relief materials, the ADM said.Newly-elected BJP MP, Jaswant Singh, in a statement urged the West Bengal government to help and send disaster management teams to Darjeeling. န Photos : PTI

န 24000 homeless in Sunderbans

Kolkata, Canning, 27 May : The cyclone Aila has left more than 24,000 people homeless in the Sunderbans on Monday. The most affected islands are Dayapur, Jamespur, Annpore and Lahiripur, lying close to the Sajnekhali forest in the Sunderbans.Animesh Sinha, who runs an NGO, Sunderbans Environment and Ecological Development Society, said his office opposite the Sajnekhali forest office, had been inundated on Sunday night. "There was inside the room was around six feet deep. The worse is yet to come," he said. The high tide had left most of the villages inundated. The force of the gushing water was so high in the morning that most of the mud and bamboo walls collapsed. "Only the tall trees could be seen, everything else was under water. The embankment has broken at three places, leaving the villages exposed to the river," said Sinha.The Sunderbans Tiger Reserve field director, Subrata Mukherjee, said most of the camps in the forests were inundated after the heavy rainfall that followed the cyclone. "Boats have sunk. We have taken the help of BSF at some places. Control rooms have been set up at Canning and Gosaba. We have also asked some NGOs to provide relief to the people."

န Cyclone Can Kills The People, But Can't Stop The Life

န Patharpatima (Sundarbans), 26 May :

Newly married couple Prakash (L) and Sumita travel on a rickshaw at Patharpatima Island in the Sundarbans delta. Sumita and Prakash married on Monday night while cyclone hit Patharpatima Island.Nearly 120 people have been killed by a cyclone that ripped through Bangladesh and West Bengal including the Sundarbans, which is home to the world's largest tiger reserve, 24 Parganas DM Dr Khalil Ahmed told Bengal Newz on Tuesday, while millions remained marooned by floodwaters or living in shelters. န Photo : Reuters

န 12 killed, 21 injured in Darjeeling's Ghoom landslides

Sliguri, 26 May : At least 12 people were killed and 21 injured following a huge landslides Tuesday at Ghoom in West Bengal's hill district Darjeeling, police said. "At least 12 people died and 21 were injured in landslides across Darjeeling district. We've also got reports that six people are missing," Darjeeling additional superintendent of police Akhilesh Yadav said. He said the army has been called in to carry out rescue operations in different parts of the hills. "Roads at Mirik, Sonada, Rohini and Pankhabari Road are closed," District Magistrate, Darjeeling, Surendra Gupta told Bengal Newz.Nearly 500 houses were damaged due to torrential rains that started yesterday morning and are still continuing in northern parts of the state. According to sources, nearly 100 landslides took place across Darjeeling and its adjoining areas causing immense trouble to thousands of residents of the hilly region. န Photos : AFP

န West Bengal : Cyclone toll rises to 45, rescue ops begin

Bangladesh : Aila leaves at least 103 dead, 100+ missing
< People make their way from the flooded village of Minakhan in south 24 Parganas district.
Kolkata, Dhaka, 26 May : The death toll due to Monday's havoc caused by cyclone 'Aila' in West Bengal rose to 45 today. And in Bangladeash the death count from 'Aila' that flung itself to the exposal coastline on Monday has reached 103 with more than 100 missing until Tuesday evening. In West Bengal, the highest number of 20 deaths occurred in South 24 Parganas district followed by eight in North 24 Parganas, six each in Kolkata and Howrah, three in Birbhum and one each in Bankura and Malda, official sources said. Two columns of army, one each in Sandeshkhali and Kultali of North and South 24 Parganas districts respectively, were
carrying out rescue and relief operations, defence spokesman Wing Commander Mahesh Upasani said. Six more army columns were on standby, he said. Two MI-17 helicopters were air-dropping food packets in the two worst hit areas in the two districts, he said. The army would also take up operations in Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas and Gosaba, Patharpratima and Sagardwip areas in South 24 Parganas.In Bangladesh twenty-seven people died in Khulna, 30 in Satkhira, 10 in Bhola, nine in Barisal, nine in Patuakhali, four in Narshingdi, 24 in Noakhali, seven in Laxmipur, two each in Chapainawabganj, Cox's Bazar, Rajshahi and Naogaon, and one each in Magura and Rangpur.Razzaq, the disaster management minister of Bangladesh, said prime minister Sheikh Hasina directed the MPs to visit the affected areas. As many as 42,000 volunteers along with army, navy and coast guard members are conducting rescue and relief operations in the affected areas under local arrangements. န Photo : AFP

န Heavy rains in Aila-hit NE, situation worsens with advent of monsoon

Guwahati, 26 May : The Indian North East states experienced heavy to very heavy rainfall since yesterday under the influence of cyclonic storm ‘Aila’, with the onset of monsoon further leading to the incessant downpour.The NE states, which had mostly recorded deficit rainfall this season, had been receiving incessant rains since yesterday, coupled with squally gusty winds at about 50-60 kmph. Cherrapunjee in Meghalaya recorded the highest downpour in the last 24 hours with 213.4 mm rainfall so far, Meteorological department sources informed.