Phailin, recorded as the most powerful storm

  

BHUBANESWAR:Anger over the slow and patchy delivery of aid is growing amongst survivors of a fierce cyclone that battered India’s east coast almost a week ago and the delays have sparked protests and looting in some areas.

Cyclone Phailin battered the coastline of Odisha state, ripping apart tens of thousands of mud-and-thatch homes, inundating large tracts of farmland and disrupting power and telecoms services.

As it moved inland from the Bay of Bengal, incessant rains caused major rivers and tributaries to overflow, submerging more villages and leaving thousands stranded.

Phailin, recorded as the most powerful storm to hit the region in 14 years, disrupted the lives of almost 12 million people and killed at least 43 till today.

“The government has been providing food and clean water and some shelter materials, but there are still places where people have not received anything at all,” said John Shumlansky, country director for aid group Catholic Relief Services.

Shumlansky praised the timely action of the authorities who evacuated almost one million people to shelters ahead of the storm, but said the scale of destruction presented challenges for both the government and humanitarian agencies.

Hundreds of cyclone survivors protested over the lack of aid in the worst-hit district of Ganjam, blocking a major highway and causing congestion. Similar demonstrations have been reported in at least two other districts.