Cyclone Mora: India hands over relief materials to Bangladesh

Dhaka/New Delhi: India on Thursday provided relief materials to cyclone-hit Bangladesh and handed over 33 fishermen who were rescued by the Indian Navy after they got trapped in the storm.

Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla handed over to Bangladeshi authorities in Chittagong 33 fishermen who were rescued by the Indian Navy 96 nautical miles south west of the Bangladeshi port city on Wednesday.

The fishermen were rescued by the Navy’s Marine commandos on board its ship INS Sumitra which was sent to the cyclone- battered country as part of India’s assistance in relief and rescue operations. “They were rescued by the Marine commandos on board the ship in a daring operation. The commandos jumped into the sea to rescue the fishermen as the boats could not be lowered on account of the sea state,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.

Shringla also handed over relief materials to the Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong. The Indian Navy has also deployed P-81 aircraft as part of its rescue operations in the country. Cyclone Mora killed at least nine persons and rendered over 50,000 families homeless besides causing widespread damage in coastal regions.

The cyclone has affected over a quarter million people in the country, the disaster management ministry said. As many as 286,000 people in 16 coastal districts were affected by the storm, Additional Secretary Golam Mostafa was quoted as saying by bdnews24.

Around 54,500 families have lost properties in the storm as nearly 60,000 houses have been damaged along with 1,592 acres of farmlands, he said. Cox’s Bazar, the longest unbroken sea beach in the world, bore the brunt of the cyclone, with five people dead, over 20,000 houses destroyed and hundreds of trees uprooted, blocking roads all over the district.

Mora, packing winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, made landfall in the country on Tuesday, tearing through the southwest districts including low-lying areas. (PTI)