Provide aid to cyclone-hit West Bengal: CPI-M urges Delhi

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Centre has approved a package of 478.27 crore rupees from the National Calamity Contingency Fund for rehabilitation of Aila cyclone victims in West Bengal. Referring to the West Bengal's demand of 520 crore rupees for the development of housing and road sectors, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that a high level committee has considered the matter and decided to defer a decision for want of area-wise details from the state.

June 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - The 11-member central team, which visited West Bengal to take stock of the post Cyclone Aila situation, will submit a detailed report to the central government Wednesday. The team during its three-day visit surveyed a large part of cyclone-ravaged South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts in southern West Bengal and Darjeeling hills.

June 3rd, 2009 KOLKATA - A seven-member team of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM), which is spearheading a movement for a separate Gorkhaland, Wednesday met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and demanded Rs.10 billion for relief and restoration work in areas of Darjeeling hills devastated by landslides triggered by Cyclone Aila. The team of senior GJM leaders, led by party president Bimal Gurung, met Bhattacharjee at the state secretariat and also put forth their demand for holding three-tier Panchayat polls in Darjeeling hills.

June 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Centre would soon send a team to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone "Aila" in West Bengal, state, it has been assured to the State Government, said West Bengal Finance Minister Ashim Das Gupta on Tuesday. Ashim, after meeting the Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram on Tuesday in the national capital, said that Chidambaram has also promised that he would sympathetically consider all the demands for rehabilitation of the cyclone-affected people.

June 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - West Bengal's Finance Minister, Dr. Ashim Dasgupta, will meet Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today and submit a report on the recent devastation caused by cyclone Aila in the state.

June 2nd, 2009 AGARTALA - Tripura Tuesday decided to give Rs.5 million to cyclone-hit West Bengal to help in the relief relief efforts. "The people of Tripura are confident that with the resilience of the people and the adequate support of the central government, the West Bengal government would come out of this situation," Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said in a letter to his West Bengal counterpart Bhudhadeb Bhattacharjee.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Rural Development Minister Dr. C. P. Joshi has sanctioned an amount of Rs.

May 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - China has donated $30,000 (Rs.1.41 million) to the Indian Red Cross Society for cyclone relief work in West Bengal. China's ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, Thursday handed over a cheque to S.P.

May 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government will rebuild 400 kms of embankments destroyed by Cyclone Aila in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans in an effort to save the region from any more floods in the coming monsoon. "We'll start constructing 400 kms of embankments in Sundarbans and will try to finish the work within the next one week," state Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar told reporters after surveying the cyclone-hit villages in the Sundarbans Saturday.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Save the Children, an NGO, Friday said it was apprehensive about the safety of children in cyclone-hit coastal West Bengal as there were reports of many children having gone missing and they could have been trafficked. Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children, which is working in West Bengal since 1997, said children are more vulnerable to trafficking after major disasters like floods.

May 28th, 2009 KOLKATA - Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday refused to accept felicitation from Congress workers in view of the devastation triggered by cyclone Aila in large parts of West Bengal early this week. "This is not the time to accept any felicitation as many people are badly affected by the cyclone Aila in a number of West Bengal districts.

May 27th, 2009 DHAKA - 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 India 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.

May 26th, 2009 KOLKATA/NEW DELHI - Concerned over the plight of people in cyclone-hit West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee broke tradition Tuesday to formally take charge of her railways portfolio at the Eastern Railway headquarters instead of New Delhi. "I have to be with the people in my state at this hour.

May 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - Three people were killed here Monday as cyclone Aila crossed the coast into West Bengal. There was no information from the coastal districts, where extensive damage was feared.

May 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Uncertainty looms over the second edition of the cabinet formation scheduled Tuesday due to the volatile situation in Punjab and the fierce cyclone that has hit West Bengal, official sources said here Monday. The Congress leadership has yet to finalise the ministerial berths.