BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Cyclone death toll doubles

People are dying because of starvation and disease caused by polluted water.

Mass cremations are being planned to stop decaying corpses spreading epidemics.

The official overseeing rescue and relief operations in the state of Orissa, R. N. Padhi, put the figure at 3,435. Earlier on Sunday, he had cited a death toll of 1,715.

"We have gained entry to new areas which were inacessible earlier," Mr Padhi said.

"Unfortunately there is a heavy flow of casualties from some of the badly affected districts."

In Jagatsinghpur district alone, he said, the death toll was 2,464.

He added that the number of people killed could rise to 5,000.

"There is a great fear of that, but we are hoping against hope that will not happen."

Mr Padhi estimated that thousands of corpses remained to be recovered and were decomposing in waterlogged fields.

An air force officer involved in relief operations said volunteers would be dropped in inaccessible regions in an attempt to prevent the dead bodies causing further damage to health.

"We will carry people with kerosene and drop them in batches and allow them to burn the carcasses," said Group Captain H. P. S. Natt.

"These teams will be provided with water, rations and communication equipment and will be picked up by helicopter after they have finished the job."

Many survivors are suffering from diarrhoea, and there are widespread fears of a possible epidemic of waterborne diseases.

General A S Klair, the officer in charge of the military's relief operations said help would have been rendered to most areas by Sunday night.

"The worst is over. By evening, except for a few pockets, we would have reached all the areas. I'd like to believe that more than 95% of the area has been covered between the army, navy and air force," he said.

The army has set up five field hospitals to handle outbreaks of disease, and soldiers have taken bleaching powder to far-flung villages to clean wells.

General Klair admitted that victims from some of the worst affected areas were still cut off from the hospitals.

Soldiers and international aid workers have been using rowing boats to deliver food and medicine to millions still cut off by vast lakes of floodwater.

The Orissa state government has also started air-dropping medicines along with instructions how to use them.

"It will be weeks before the debris and waste can be really cleared up," said one official. "By that time epidemics are inevitable."

A statement from the Orissa state government, trying to allay fears of an epidemic, said only 10 people had died of gastroenteritis. But it admitted 165,000 head of cattle were killed in the storm, and few had been disposed of.

Trucks and trains packed with food are moving more rapidly into the region after engineers repaired a 100-meter (300-foot) breach in the main highway from Calcutta.

As the rest of India celebrated Diwali, the festival of light, an official in Orissa said it would take five months to restore electricity.

At a mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Delhi, a petition was read for the victims of the cyclone, the worst to hit Orissa since 1971.

The Vatican announced that it would donate $300,000 to the relief effort.

Relevant Stories

Disease grips cyclone state (07 Nov 99 | South Asia)
World pledges money and supplies (04 Nov 99 | South Asia)
In pictures: Cyclone aftermath (03 Nov 99 | South Asia)
Eyewitness: In the eye of the storm (02 Nov 99 | South Asia)
A history of destruction (02 Nov 99 | South Asia)
Indian media criticises relief effort (01 Nov 99 | South Asia)
Nature's lethal weapons (10 Nov 98 | World)
Infectious disease: A guide (17 Jun 99 | Medical notes)
Natural disasters and health (27 Jan 99 | Medical notes)

Internet Links

World Meteorology Organisation
India Meteorological Department
Tropical Cyclone resources
Supertyphoon: Indian Ocean
Orissa
Tropical Cyclone FAQ

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