From Our Own Correspondent Delhi, June 30
As monsoon rains continue to fall over eastern India, the enormity of the refugee disaster became even clearer today when a senior government official asked the international community to airlift urgently “from any corner of the world” 3,000 miles of six foot wide material desperately needed to give the minimum of shelter to three million evacuees not yet in camps.

The official, from the Ministry for Rehabilitation and Refugees, said that India’s stocks of material for shelter were exhausted and many people were already dying of exposure and broncho-pneumonia. Tarpaulin manufacturers had said they could no longer meet the huge demand and the government's stocks of matting were almost exhausted.

“Stocks of tarpaulin, tents and other materials for shelter in India are exhausted. But they are required urgently. We shall be grateful if we can obtain them from any corner of the world.”

Although millions of refugees have been accommodated in huge government camps, the official admitted that many others, about three million, have no shelter worth the name. It is feared that they will begin to die of exposure.

“In fact, the position is so desperate that the opening of evacuee camps from now on will depend largely on the amount of material we receive from abroad.” he said.

Outlining the battle to combat cholera, which is estimated to have claimed over 10,000 lives, the official said: “We have only been able to innoculate a third of the six million evacuees so far. But they are still arriving at the rate of 50,000 a day and the situation is gradually becoming unmanageable.

“Cholera vaccines and medical equipment received from foreign countries amount to only a fraction of our requirements.”

A correspondent of The Statesman, who visited refugee camps yesterday, reported today that Oxfam and other British voluntary agencies agree that they have never faced such a gigantic task before. They are also doubtful whether they can sustain their efforts for long in view of the inadequacy of funds.