2010 Eastern Indian storm
Encyclopedia
At approximately 11 pm local time, April 13, 2010, a severe storm struck parts of Bangladesh
and eastern India
. It lasted about 90 minutes, with the most intense portion spanning 30–40 minutes. As of April 16, more than 140 deaths have been reported. At least 91 people died in the Indian state of Bihar
, 44 in West Bengal
, and 4 in Assam
. In Bangladesh, five deaths and two hundred injuries were reported. Most of the deaths were women and children crushed when their huts were destroyed. Over 91,000 dwellings were destroyed in India and several thousand in Bangladesh; approximately 300,000 dwellings were at least partially damaged. Both mud and pucca housing
was damaged by the storm. Nearly 500,000 people were left homeless or otherwise affected by the storm.
commonly formed over the Bay of Bengal
during the hot months of the year. Meteorologist S.I. Laskar said the storm was due to an unstable atmosphere caused by excessive heat and humidity. "It is quite normal in the pre-monsoon season," he added. The severity of the storm was likely due to wind pulling the moisture from the Bay of Bengal northward to north Bihar, where it converged with another cloud formation to form a 20 km tall cloud mass. The cool air in the clouds was met by hot air rising from the ground, which caused the storm to start rotating. Although thunderstorms had been predicted, the severity of the storm was unexpected.
Although not a tropical cyclone
, the storm brought back memories of Cyclone Aila
, which killed 155 people in the same area in May 2009. One eyewitness described the storm: "It was all dark. I thought it was the end of the world and we were going to die." Locals received no warning of the impending storm, and were mostly sleeping when the storm hit, increasing the casualties. Out-dated equipment with limited capabilities was blamed for the lack of warnings.
The storm spawned a large tornado, which lasted about 20 minutes. It was the first tornado recorded in Bihar history. Tornadoes are a very rare occurrence in India – the last one was in 1998. Radar equipment which could have provided early warning had arrived in the area, but had not yet been installed because the building to house it was still under construction. The storm occurred during a heat wave with temperatures greater than 40°C (104°F) reported. West Bengal regional weather office director Gokul Chandra Debnath said that the heatwave "could have been a catalyst ... that triggered the tornado". The amount of damage caused directly by the tornado is unknown.
, Islampur
, Kaliaganj
, Karandighi
, and Raiganj
. Purina had the most reported casualties. Power was lost throughout the area, and communication was difficult due to severed phone lines and damaged rail lines. Nepal
, which relies on India for part of its power generation, was also affected by the outages.
In Araria district
, a jail was partially destroyed causing the transfer of 600+ inmates to another facility. In Rangpur
, a police officer was killed and five other injured when a wall of the Rangpur Police Line building collapsed. The police barracks in Raiganj
, which houses 300 officers, were partially destroyed. Several other police buildings had their roofs blown away.
The initial strong winds were followed by heavy rains, causing further damage to weakened structures. Widespread damage to crops and livestock was also reported in both West Bengal and Bihar, as well as in Bangladesh. More than 8,000 hectares of maize
was destroyed in West Bengal. More than 4,000 hectares of maize and boro
was destroyed in Bangladesh. In Assam, paddy crops
, bananas, and other vegetation were damaged. Assam crops were already in poor shape due to earlier hail storms before the April 13 storm, and were further damaged by another strong storm on April 15.
shelters on April 15. However, many remote regions remained inaccessible as of April 16. Aid workers said that hundreds of thousands of victims had not received any relief by April 16. Another rainstorm on April 15 added to frustrations.
On April 16, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
announced an ex gratia
payment Rs 1 lakh
to the next of kin to persons killed in the storm. The money will come from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. In the Lok Sabha
, members have taken turns blaming each other's political parties for the delays. On April 19, The Communist Party of India (Marxist)
(CPM) asked for central assistance of Rs 1,000 crore
for Bihar and Rs 500 crore for West Bengal. Prashanta Mazumdar additionally asked for government workers to assess the damage and distribute relief. Indian National Congress
(INC) member Deepa Dasmunshi countered by saying the state administration had failed miserably. All India Trinamool Congress
(AITC) leader Sudip Bandopadhyay agreed and added that the CPM was "more involved in state terrorism" against political opponents than distribution of aid. The CPM responded that West Bengal had done its best to provide relief. Dasmunshi strongly disagreed, claiming "not even one tarpaulin or piece of cloth has reached the victims. The state government has failed." The CPM and other left parties accused Dasmunshi and Bandopadhyay of "playing politics at the cost of human lives". Janata Dal (United)
leader Sharad Yadav
demanded that the House have a more thorough discussion on the matter.
plus an ex gratia payment of Rs 1.5 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Phone service was restored to most of the region after 30 hours without service, However, areas near the Nepal-India border remained without power on April 17. On April 20, the Bihar Electricity Board said that it would be at least a month to repair all damaged electrical transmission towers. Rolling blackouts were conducted in Nepal to combat the decreased electricity availability.
On April 16, the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee
called for the firing of Minister for Disaster Management Devesh Chandra Thakur, who was reportedly on vacation and had not visited the affected areas. On April 22, the INC announced that it would distribute food and other relief to storm victims in the Purnia
, Kishanganj
, Katihar
, Araria
, and Supaul
districts.
, only 7,000 tarpaulins had been distributed by April 17; Mukherjee claimed 57,000 had been distributed. The state has announced cash relief of Rs 10,000 for the homeless and a Rs 2 lakh
payment for relatives of the deceased. A total of Rs 5 lakh has been released to rebuild housing, and a metric ton of rice and 30,000 tarpaulin sheets have been released for direct aid.
Storm victims angry about the slow rate of aid distribution quickly turned to demonstrations and violence. In Karandighi
, hundreds of protesters squatted on the highway, closing it down for three hours on April 15. Protests were also held in Raniganj
. On April 16, "Thousands of villagers staged angry protests in front of government offices [in Karandighi and Hemtabad
] demanding more relief materials and assaulted officials when they came to open the offices," according to West Bengal relief minister Mortaza Hossain. Riot police had to be dispatched to both Karandighi and Hematabad. In Hemtabad, angry villagers attacked the block development building and shut down the Raiganj-Balurghat state highway for 30 minutes. Raids on several rural offices were reported in the North Dinajpur
district on April 16. Accusations of corruption were made in Karandighi and Raiganj, with some storm victims claiming they received only part of their promised relief payments.
In Karandighi, anger lead to looting and later violence. Shortly after 2pm IST on April 15, a delivery of 500 tarpaulin sheets arrived. Villagers seeing that the supply would not be enough for everyone in need decided to take matters into their own hands. Some protesters jumped a wall, broke into the godown, and looted the tarpaulins. Police were called in, but were blocked from entering the facility by protesters. One looter remarked "What else could I have done? The government is not helping us so we have to help ourselves." Just after noon on April 16, an angry mob attacked Panchayat Pradhan Badal Singh and began to beat him. One of the perpetrators said he couldn't control his anger when he saw that Singh "was distributing the [tarpaulin] sheets only to his party supporters." Throughout the North Dinajpur district, panchayat leaders have fled their homes after being attacked by angry villagers.
On April 19, protesters blocked National Highway 34 at Panisala in the Raiganj subdivision
. Others surrounding the panchayat office demanding more relief. The police fired shots into the air in order to scare the crowd off the highway after it was shut down for about an hour. According to one report, the Socialist Unity Centre of India
was responsible for organizing the road block. Later that evening, at 5:30pm IST, 1,500 people who had been dispersed earlier attacked the police at Sitgram. Three sub-inspectors were badly beaten and two police vehicles pushed into a ditch before the crowd was dispersed with tear gas and shots fired into the air. District magistrate Ramanuj Chakrabarty claimed that "the distribution of relief has picked up" and that the attack "was politically motivated."
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and eastern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It lasted about 90 minutes, with the most intense portion spanning 30–40 minutes. As of April 16, more than 140 deaths have been reported. At least 91 people died in the Indian state of Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, 44 in West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, and 4 in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
. In Bangladesh, five deaths and two hundred injuries were reported. Most of the deaths were women and children crushed when their huts were destroyed. Over 91,000 dwellings were destroyed in India and several thousand in Bangladesh; approximately 300,000 dwellings were at least partially damaged. Both mud and pucca housing
Pucca housing
Pucca housing refers to dwellings that are designed to be solid and permanent. The term is applied to housing in South Asia built of substantial material such as stone, brick, cement, concrete, or timber....
was damaged by the storm. Nearly 500,000 people were left homeless or otherwise affected by the storm.
The storm
According to local officials the storm was an extreme nor'westerNor'wester
Nor'wester has been used to describe sumeet several different types of wind.*A New Zealand wind pattern resulting in the Nor'west arch and leading to hot, dry weather on the east coast of the South Island....
commonly formed over the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
during the hot months of the year. Meteorologist S.I. Laskar said the storm was due to an unstable atmosphere caused by excessive heat and humidity. "It is quite normal in the pre-monsoon season," he added. The severity of the storm was likely due to wind pulling the moisture from the Bay of Bengal northward to north Bihar, where it converged with another cloud formation to form a 20 km tall cloud mass. The cool air in the clouds was met by hot air rising from the ground, which caused the storm to start rotating. Although thunderstorms had been predicted, the severity of the storm was unexpected.
Although not a tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
, the storm brought back memories of Cyclone Aila
Cyclone Aila
Cyclone Aila was the second tropical cyclone of the 2009 North Indian Ocean cyclone season...
, which killed 155 people in the same area in May 2009. One eyewitness described the storm: "It was all dark. I thought it was the end of the world and we were going to die." Locals received no warning of the impending storm, and were mostly sleeping when the storm hit, increasing the casualties. Out-dated equipment with limited capabilities was blamed for the lack of warnings.
The storm spawned a large tornado, which lasted about 20 minutes. It was the first tornado recorded in Bihar history. Tornadoes are a very rare occurrence in India – the last one was in 1998. Radar equipment which could have provided early warning had arrived in the area, but had not yet been installed because the building to house it was still under construction. The storm occurred during a heat wave with temperatures greater than 40°C (104°F) reported. West Bengal regional weather office director Gokul Chandra Debnath said that the heatwave "could have been a catalyst ... that triggered the tornado". The amount of damage caused directly by the tornado is unknown.
Damage
The storm struck in northeastern parts of West Bengal and Bihar states, with winds estimated from 120–160 kilometers/hour (75–100 miles/hour), then moved into Bengladesh. The strong winds uprooted trees, displaced roof tops, and snapped telephone and electricity lines. The worst damage was reported in the towns of HemtabadHemtabad
Hemtabad is an administrative division in Raiganj subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Hemtabad police station serves this block...
, Islampur
Islampur
For the town in Bihar see: Islampur Islampur is a municipality and head quarters of Islampur subdivision in Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Geography:Islampur is located at...
, Kaliaganj
Kaliaganj
Kaliaganj is a city and a municipality in Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Demographics: India census, Kaliaganj had a population of 47,639. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Kaliaganj has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national...
, Karandighi
Karandighi
Karandighi is an administrative division in Islampur subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Karandighi police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is at Karandighi...
, and Raiganj
Raiganj
Raiganj is a city and a municipality in Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of a district as well as a subdivision.-Geography:...
. Purina had the most reported casualties. Power was lost throughout the area, and communication was difficult due to severed phone lines and damaged rail lines. Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, which relies on India for part of its power generation, was also affected by the outages.
In Araria district
Araria District
Araria district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Araria town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Araria district is a part of Purnia division. The district occupies an area of 2830 km².-Origin of name:...
, a jail was partially destroyed causing the transfer of 600+ inmates to another facility. In Rangpur
Rangpur, Bangladesh
Rangpur is one of the major cities in Bangladesh. Rangpur is considered as the centre of northwestern Bangladesh. Recently established public university of Bangladesh named as "Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur" is situated in the southern part of the city. Earlier Rangpur was the headquarter of...
, a police officer was killed and five other injured when a wall of the Rangpur Police Line building collapsed. The police barracks in Raiganj
Raiganj
Raiganj is a city and a municipality in Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of a district as well as a subdivision.-Geography:...
, which houses 300 officers, were partially destroyed. Several other police buildings had their roofs blown away.
The initial strong winds were followed by heavy rains, causing further damage to weakened structures. Widespread damage to crops and livestock was also reported in both West Bengal and Bihar, as well as in Bangladesh. More than 8,000 hectares of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
was destroyed in West Bengal. More than 4,000 hectares of maize and boro
Boro
Boro has several meanings:*Boro, New South Wales, a locality in Australia*Boro was a Dutch Formula One constructor.*Boro, Togo is a village is the Kara region of Togo*Boro is a local nickname for the English town Middlesbrough...
was destroyed in Bangladesh. In Assam, paddy crops
Paddy field
A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...
, bananas, and other vegetation were damaged. Assam crops were already in poor shape due to earlier hail storms before the April 13 storm, and were further damaged by another strong storm on April 15.
Aftermath and rescue efforts
Rescue efforts have been inhibited as many roads, including National Highway 34, are blocked by downed trees and telephone poles. Medical personnel and supplies were quickly rushed to the affected areas, and aid packages were announced. Aid workers began to distribute rice, dried fruits, water, and temporary tarpaulinTarpaulin
A tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
shelters on April 15. However, many remote regions remained inaccessible as of April 16. Aid workers said that hundreds of thousands of victims had not received any relief by April 16. Another rainstorm on April 15 added to frustrations.
On April 16, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
announced an ex gratia
Ex gratia
Ex gratia is Latin for "by favour", and is most often used in a legal context. When something has been done ex gratia, it has been done voluntarily, out of kindness or grace...
payment Rs 1 lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
to the next of kin to persons killed in the storm. The money will come from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. In the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
, members have taken turns blaming each other's political parties for the delays. On April 19, The Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
(CPM) asked for central assistance of Rs 1,000 crore
Crore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
for Bihar and Rs 500 crore for West Bengal. Prashanta Mazumdar additionally asked for government workers to assess the damage and distribute relief. Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
(INC) member Deepa Dasmunshi countered by saying the state administration had failed miserably. All India Trinamool Congress
All India Trinamool Congress
The All India Trinamool Congress is a state political party in West Bengal. Founded in 1 January 1998, the party is led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Trinamool Congress is currently the second largest member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition...
(AITC) leader Sudip Bandopadhyay agreed and added that the CPM was "more involved in state terrorism" against political opponents than distribution of aid. The CPM responded that West Bengal had done its best to provide relief. Dasmunshi strongly disagreed, claiming "not even one tarpaulin or piece of cloth has reached the victims. The state government has failed." The CPM and other left parties accused Dasmunshi and Bandopadhyay of "playing politics at the cost of human lives". Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
leader Sharad Yadav
Sharad Yadav
Sharad Yadav, a politician from the Janata Dal party, is currently a Member of the Parliament of India representing the Madhepura constituency of Bihar in the Lok Sabha...
demanded that the House have a more thorough discussion on the matter.
In Bihar
In Bihar, storm victims are being given rice, cash, and asbestos sheets to rebuild their houses. Families of the deceased are also receiving money to pay for last ritesLast Rites
The Last Rites are the very last prayers and ministrations given to many Christians before death. The last rites go by various names and include different practices in different Christian traditions...
plus an ex gratia payment of Rs 1.5 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Phone service was restored to most of the region after 30 hours without service, However, areas near the Nepal-India border remained without power on April 17. On April 20, the Bihar Electricity Board said that it would be at least a month to repair all damaged electrical transmission towers. Rolling blackouts were conducted in Nepal to combat the decreased electricity availability.
On April 16, the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee
Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee
The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee is the unit of the Indian National Congress for the state of Bihar. The head office of the organization is situated in Patna at the historical Sadaquat Ashram. The current President of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee is Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser...
called for the firing of Minister for Disaster Management Devesh Chandra Thakur, who was reportedly on vacation and had not visited the affected areas. On April 22, the INC announced that it would distribute food and other relief to storm victims in the Purnia
Purnia District
Purnia district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. The town of Purnia is the administrative headquarters of this district.Purnia district is a part of Purnia Division...
, Kishanganj
Kishanganj District
Kishanganj district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Kishanganj town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Kishanganj district is a part of Purnia division.-History:...
, Katihar
Katihar District
Katihar district is one of the thirty-seven districts of Bihar state, India, and Katihar town is the administrative headquarters of this district...
, Araria
Araria District
Araria district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Araria town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Araria district is a part of Purnia division. The district occupies an area of 2830 km².-Origin of name:...
, and Supaul
Supaul District
Supaul district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Supaul town is the administrative headquarters of this district. This district occupies an area of...
districts.
In West Bengal
In West Bengal, Civil Defense Minister Srikumar Mukherjee is personally overseeing rescue efforts. As of April 15, all major roads and rail lines were cleared and power had been restored to 50% of the population. However, some of the hardest hit towns had not yet received any government aid by April 16, causing widespread anger. Mukherjee admit state government was struggling to distribute food rations, blaimng insufficient manpower for the delay. He has since asked district officials to purchase supplies locally. According to international aid agency ActionAidActionAid
ActionAid was founded in 1972 as a child sponsorship charity when 88 UK supporters sponsored 88 children in India and Kenya, the focus primarily being to provide children with an education. Global accounts are now reported in Euros and in 2007 and 2008 turnover was close to 180m Euros...
, only 7,000 tarpaulins had been distributed by April 17; Mukherjee claimed 57,000 had been distributed. The state has announced cash relief of Rs 10,000 for the homeless and a Rs 2 lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
payment for relatives of the deceased. A total of Rs 5 lakh has been released to rebuild housing, and a metric ton of rice and 30,000 tarpaulin sheets have been released for direct aid.
Storm victims angry about the slow rate of aid distribution quickly turned to demonstrations and violence. In Karandighi
Karandighi
Karandighi is an administrative division in Islampur subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Karandighi police station serves this block. Headquarters of this block is at Karandighi...
, hundreds of protesters squatted on the highway, closing it down for three hours on April 15. Protests were also held in Raniganj
Raniganj
Raniganj is a city and a municipality in Bardhaman district in the Indian state of West Bengal.-Geography:Raniganj is located at . It has an average elevation of 91 metres ....
. On April 16, "Thousands of villagers staged angry protests in front of government offices [in Karandighi and Hemtabad
Hemtabad
Hemtabad is an administrative division in Raiganj subdivision of Uttar Dinajpur district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Hemtabad police station serves this block...
] demanding more relief materials and assaulted officials when they came to open the offices," according to West Bengal relief minister Mortaza Hossain. Riot police had to be dispatched to both Karandighi and Hematabad. In Hemtabad, angry villagers attacked the block development building and shut down the Raiganj-Balurghat state highway for 30 minutes. Raids on several rural offices were reported in the North Dinajpur
North Dinajpur
Uttar Dinajpur or North Dinajpur is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur....
district on April 16. Accusations of corruption were made in Karandighi and Raiganj, with some storm victims claiming they received only part of their promised relief payments.
In Karandighi, anger lead to looting and later violence. Shortly after 2pm IST on April 15, a delivery of 500 tarpaulin sheets arrived. Villagers seeing that the supply would not be enough for everyone in need decided to take matters into their own hands. Some protesters jumped a wall, broke into the godown, and looted the tarpaulins. Police were called in, but were blocked from entering the facility by protesters. One looter remarked "What else could I have done? The government is not helping us so we have to help ourselves." Just after noon on April 16, an angry mob attacked Panchayat Pradhan Badal Singh and began to beat him. One of the perpetrators said he couldn't control his anger when he saw that Singh "was distributing the [tarpaulin] sheets only to his party supporters." Throughout the North Dinajpur district, panchayat leaders have fled their homes after being attacked by angry villagers.
On April 19, protesters blocked National Highway 34 at Panisala in the Raiganj subdivision
Raiganj subdivision
Raiganj subdivision is a subdivision of the North Dinajpur district in the state of West Bengal, India. It consists of Raiganj municipality, Kaliaganj municipality and four community development blocs: Hemtabad, Itahar, Kaliganj and Raiganj. The four blocks contain 39 gram panchayats and two...
. Others surrounding the panchayat office demanding more relief. The police fired shots into the air in order to scare the crowd off the highway after it was shut down for about an hour. According to one report, the Socialist Unity Centre of India
Socialist Unity Centre of India
The Socialist Unity Centre of India , previously called the Socialist Unity Centre of India, is a communist party in India. The party was founded by Shibdas Ghosh in 1948.-Ideology:...
was responsible for organizing the road block. Later that evening, at 5:30pm IST, 1,500 people who had been dispersed earlier attacked the police at Sitgram. Three sub-inspectors were badly beaten and two police vehicles pushed into a ditch before the crowd was dispersed with tear gas and shots fired into the air. District magistrate Ramanuj Chakrabarty claimed that "the distribution of relief has picked up" and that the attack "was politically motivated."
In Assam
In Assam, food and building supplies have been distributed to storm victims. "We have taken all possible measures to provide relief and other financial assistance to people hit by the storm," remarked Relief and Rehabilitation minister Bhumidhar Barman. An ex gratia payment of Rs 5,000 was announced for the next of kin of storm victims, plus Rs 3 lakh to be released at a later date.In Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, power was restored to most areas by April 16, although parts of Rangpur remained without power. In Dinajpur, locals frustrated about the lack of power attacked the Dinajpur Power Development office on April 15. Police had to be called in to take control of the situation.Further reading
-
- One eyewitness, 55-year-old Khudiram Oraon, recounts his encounter with the April 13 storm.