ActionAid is delivering vital food and shelter to survivors of last month's cyclone in India, which killed over 120 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
We have distributed dry food rations, tarpaulin sheets, construction materials and utensils to 5,000 families affected by the storm in West Bengal as well as thousands of people in the Supaul district of Bihar.
Working with communities
ActionAid assessment teams are working closely with partners on the ground as well as with the most marginalised communities in the area, including those who have lost everything in the disaster. ActionAid is also supporting people to lobby the government to deliver on its responsibilities to provide relief and tools to rebuild their lives.
Harjeet Singh, ActionAid's Emergencies Advisor said: "People were sleeping when the storm hit and this led to many deaths and injuries. ActionAid has focused on reaching the survivors with basic relief supplies, especially women, the elderly, persons with disabilities and children. With such massive damage to homes and livelihoods in the communities this will be a long-term response."
ActionAid in India
The cyclone swept across eastern India around midnight on 14 April. With roads blocked and trees, electricity poles and mobile phone towers torn down, communications and transport were badly disrupted. Most of the houses in the affected areas were made of tin sheets, wood and mud and were unable to withstand the force of the storm.
This latest emergency follows the devastation wreaked across north-east India by Cyclone Aila in May 2009. ActionAid is currently implementing two long-term projects aimed at helping people affected by both Cyclone Aila in West Bengal, and by floods in Bihar, to rebuild their lives.