West Bengal welcomes Aila grant, but says money ‘insufficient’

June 15th, 2009 KOLKATA - Villagers in the remote islands of the Sundarbans can now avail of a new variety of solar lanterns that can be charged directly under sunlight. Their solar power panels in the mangrove forests, the only source of electricity in the area, were damaged by the Cyclone Aila earlier last month.

June 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal Government has convened a second round of an all-party meeting in Kolkata on Sunday evening over cyclone relief issue. The meet to be presided over the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is meant to expedite relief and restoration works in Aila-hit districts in the state.

June 8th, 2009 KOLKATA - Lawmakers of the Left Front in West Bengal took to the streets on Monday to collect funds from the willing public to help the victims of cyclone Aila in the state. "The government from the very first day has come forward with all their resources for the flood victims.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team led by Ashok Lavasa, arrived here on Saturday to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials visited the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team will arrive here today to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials will visit the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills.

June 6th, 2009 KOLKATA - The Trinamool Congress will not attend an all-party meeting on Sunday to exchange views and seek suggestions for expediting relief in the cyclone-affected areas. Sudip Bandopadhyay, TMC aspirant in Kolkata (North), said, "It is a desperate attempt to put a government seal on the efforts to get Central funds for the cyclone victims when the state has miserably failed to arrange relief and rehabilitation." The meeting has been called by State Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

June 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - An eleven-member Central team will arrive here on Saturday to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials will visit the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills.

June 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - Cyclone Aila that devastated parts of West Bengal last month damaged solar power panels worth Rs.50 crore (Rs.500 million) in the Sundarbans, an official said here Friday. "We've estimated that a huge bulk of solar panel devices worth Rs.50 crore was completely damaged due to cyclone Aila last week in Sundarbans," the managing director of West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd, S.P Gon Chowdhury told reporters on the sidelines of a enviromental conference.

May 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - Congress Party supporters protested on Saturday against inefficient disaster management by the State authorities following cyclone Aila's havoc in different parts of the state. Protestors said that the relief work being carried out by the State Government was inadequate and much more needed to be done for affected people's actual help.

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 27th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday said she will urge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give a central grant for those who have suffered property losses in Cyclone Aila. Speaking to media persons at her Kalighat residence here, she said she will also insist for a special master plan for flood control and river erosion.

May 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday asked the central government to urgently provide all necessary assistance to the West Bengal government to carry out relief and rehabilitation operations in the state hit by Cyclone Aila. The cyclone battered coastal West Bengal and hit Kolkata Monday as it uprooted trees, electricity poles and thatched homes, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake, killing 27 people and affecting 110,000 others.

May 25th, 2009 KOLKATA - At least eleven people have been killed across West Bengal by "Cyclone Aila". High speed winds of 90 kmph lashed Kolkata and surrounding areas on Monday, uprooting over 80 trees across the city.