By Shafiq Alam AFP - Sunday, November 25 02:14 am
DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh stepped up its military-led relief effort on Sunday as aid poured into the cyclone-hit country and logistical difficulties eased, officials said.
More than 3,400 people have been confirmed dead and the government estimates that 280,000 people have been left homeless by cyclone Sidr which smashed into the southern coast on November 15, prompting a massive aid operation.
"The relief operation has gathered pace with the arrival of more aid from donor countries, agencies and private charities. We've also got increased logistics support," said Navy commander Bashir Ahmed, who is coordinating help to the worst-hit Barguna district.
Sidr was the second most powerful storm to hit the country since records began, experts say.
But Ahmed said he believed virtually all survivors had now received at least two deliveries of aid, although villagers told AFP the amounts were still very small.
Their needs, however, remain enormous and it will take weeks to ensure adequate supplies to all victims.
"Things are getting better day by day but we have got a huge task of feeding millions of people for at least a month," he said.
Aid workers said getting fresh water to victims remained a priority as the prospect of outbreaks of water-borne diseases looms.
Many of those in coastal districts have seen their traditional sources of drinking water contaminated by saline water which cannot be treated by water purification tablets.
US marines from the USS Kearsarge, anchored off the southern coast in the Bay of Bengal, joined the aid effort on Friday with medical evacuations and air lifts of water supplies to the worst-affected villages.
Authorities fully expect the death toll to rise.
"Some 1,734 people are missing," said Major Nawrose, who uses one name, of the armed forces control room, adding that many of those unaccounted for were likely to have been swept away by the tidal surge.
Others were fishermen who "went out to sea before the cyclone and did not return, although we cannot say they are all dead yet," Nawrose added.
The badly hit southern town of Patharghata is popularly known as the fishing capital of Bangladesh and the industry directly supports 200,000 people there.
Coastguards and the government's weather department warned boats to stay in port as the cyclone approached. But many villagers told AFP they did not take the warning seriously due to the frequency of previous alerts.
In a sign of the precarious situation, at least one other person died and 10 more were seriously injured Saturday when a bridge in the southern Patuakhali district collapsed under the weight of 1,000 people queueing for relief.
Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest countries where 40 percent of the 144 million population lives on less than a dollar a day.
The United Nations estimates that the cyclone has affected 6.7 million people in 30 of the country's 64 districts, causing severe economic losses.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN said 92,000 hectares of crops had been ruined, 500,000 hectares partly damaged and around 350,000 livestock lost.
"Serious damage has also been observed in the fisheries and shrimp aquaculture sectors," a statement said.
