<i>Princess Anne comes to aid of Aila-hit people</i>
Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, talks to residents affected by cyclone Aila in Chakbara village under Dabur union in Shyamnagar upazila of Satkhira district yesterday. Photo: Rezaul Karim
Visiting Royal Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh, on Wednesday visited cyclone Aila and Sidr-affected villages in Satkhira and Bagerhat. The princess reached Chakbara village under Gabur union in Satkhira's Shyamnagar upazila in a seaplane at 11:50am to witness the Aila-affected people living in their makeshift houses. Several hundred people from villages near the Sundarbans thronged the embankment of Kholpetua River to welcome the princess. Princess Anne talked with the villagers who told her that they received reliefs from UK-funded aid organisation 'Shushilan' over the last five months. Pointing out that Shushilan will cut down the relief from next month, the Aila victims narrated what trouble they will be in once that happens. The princess royal assured them of looking into the matter personally. After visiting the village, she attended a meeting with the members of Village-based Tiger Response Team (VTRT), a UK-funded project, which is working to protect the locals from tigers entering the villages and the tigers as well. The VTRT is a community-based team formed under the Sundarbans Tiger Project, a joint initiative of the Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh and Zoological Society of London. The princess royal reached Chilabazar under Bagerhat's Mongla upazila at around 3:25pm to see the devastating effects of cyclones Sidr in 2007 and Aila in 2009 and another tidal surge last year. She left for Dhaka at around 4:20pm. Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque and British High Commissioner Stephen Evans were among others of princess royal's entourage.
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