Church shelters cyclone victims in West Bengal
 

(May 26, 2009) Church institutions in eastern India’s West Bengal state are providing shelter and food to hundreds of victims of Cyclone Aila. At least 73 people were killed in West Bengal and neighbouring Bangladesh, where the storm, with winds up to 120 kilometers per hour, left a trail of destruction on Monday. Father Pradeep Roy, national team leader of Caritas India's Community Based Disaster Preparedness program, based about 35 kilometers southeast of the state capital Kolkata said disrupted communications were delaying relief work. The state administration has called in the army to help with rescue operations in the worst-hit South 24 Parganas district covered by Baruipur diocese. As the local authorities sought to help those seriously affected by the storm, the Church opened its doors to people driven from their homes. Father Charles Montu Kanji, pastor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Ranigarh, in South 24 Parganas district, said some 300 people have sought shelter in his church compound. Elsewhere in Howrah district, near Kolkata, a Missionaries of Charity centre distributed food packets to cyclone victims.