Millions displaced by devastating cyclone

Nearly 2.3 million people have been displaced and tens of thousands have moved to government shelters in West Bengal, the aid agency Save the Children told AlertNet. Emergency teams raced to rescue cyclone survivors in the remote southwest of Bangladesh yesterday. The cyclone has killed at least 210 people in the flood-prone region, though officials said the death toll could rise, and rescuers have struggled to reach millions still marooned. Bangladesh?s Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzak said conditions on the ground were desperate but that a major relief and rescue operation was in full swing. ?We have adequate resources to ensure food, relief and rehabilitation, and we?ll work for as long as it takes to reach those affected,? Razzak said. Aila hit parts of coastal Bangladesh and eastern India on Monday, triggering tidal surges and floods. Officials say more than one million people have been displaced in Sundarban Islands in West Bengal state alone, one of the world?s biggest tiger reserves and which is already threatened by global warming. At least 135 people have died in Bangladesh and 75 in West Bengal, and hundreds are still missing, according to officials. In Sundarbans there were fears for the fate of the more than 250 tigers in the reserve. In Bangladesh, Aila destroyed tens of thousands of acres of crops. As water levels slowly recede, hundreds of thousands of families who sought refuge in shelters, schools and other buildings are now returning to find their homes either washed away or submerged in water; Kazinform refers to Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.