Cyclone Aila dealt a heavy blow to the state food processing and horticulture department, in terms of the department incurring a loss of Rs 101.62 crore from the damage caused by the storm in the districts of North and South 24-Parganas.

Cyclone Aila hit West Bengal on May 25 with a fury unprecedented in recent history.

The government has began an agriculture rehabilitation programme for more than four lakh small, poor and marginal farmers at a cost of nearly Taka 32 crore with the aim of getting over the losses caused by the devastating cyclone Aila last month.

Cyclone Aila, that hit parts of West Bengal last month, has damaged flowers and betel vines cultivated in six districts ~ Midnapore East, Howrah, North 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Nadia and Burdwan ~ and the loss is estimated at Rs 13 crore, according to a preliminary assessment done by the state horticulture department.

The government has began an agriculture rehabilitation programme for more than four lakh small, poor and marginal farmers at a cost of nearly Taka 32 crore with the aim of getting over the losses caused by the devastating cyclone Aila last month.

"The trends in disasters, particularly from climate change, are of enormous concern," said John Holmes, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

"We can only expect that this kind of trend is going to continue," he told a news conference.

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Water Resources has constituted a task force to assess the damage caused by cyclone

The Mortality Risk Index was issued by the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) before a four-day meeting of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction opening on Tuesday at which 1,800 officials and experts will examine natural catastrophes.

Aila left in its wake a trail of destruction but efforts at regeneration are already on at the Agri-Horticultural Society of India (AHSI) at Alipore. The garden is gearing up for the impending monsoons when propagation is at its best and will rear upto 80,000 saplings this season through various methods.

St Xavier