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Junta unwilling to accept aid from the US
Published on Thu, May 08, 2008 at 01:13 in 
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INDIA'S HELPING HAND: Two Indian Air Force transport aircraft have already reached with relief material.
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Junta siphoning off Myanmar cyclone aid: UN report
UN says nearly $10 million of cyclone aid has been skimmed off by the Junta.
New Delhi: Official sources in Myanmar are now estimating more than 22,000 people were killed in Cyclone Nargis. They say that 41,000 are missing and more than a million people are homeless.
US officials in Myanmar are receiving information that there may be over 1 lakh deaths in the delta area because of the cyclone.
"The information that we're receiving indicates that there may well be over 100,000 deaths in the delta area," said the Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Myanmar, Shari Villarosa.
Villarosa said the 1 lakh figure was not a confirmed death toll but was based on estimates provided by an international non-governmental organisation.
Yet, Myanmar's generals are reluctant to seek help from the American military. Two US ships are outside the Myanmar waters waiting for permission to dock.
However, Villarosa said the country's military junta is ''paranoid,'' about the United States but is not blocking American aid in retaliation for past criticism.
She says estimates show 95 per cent of buildings in the affected area are demolished and bridges are washed out. She called the situation outside the former capital Yangon ''increasingly horrendous,'' citing relief agency reports of shortages of food and drinking water.
However, the military government of Myanmar, the Junta, insists that there are enough stocks of food to keep people fed, but reports say prices have doubled.
Meanwhile, India too has sent relief material to aid the country in a time when it is facing a humanitarian crisis.
Two Indian Air Force transport aircraft have already reached with relief material, as have two naval warships carrying food, clothing and tents.
Food Shortage
Cyclone Nargis has caused food and fuel prices to soar in Yangon, the commercial capital.
The price of rice has doubled and the price of eggs has tripled as have the prices of vegetables. A cabbage now costs $1.
Markets started opening for the first time since Saturday's cyclone, but business was slow downtown, with hardly anyone buying food.
The Pangon port has been closed, making it difficult for people stuck on islands to make it to the mainland.
Clean water too is scarce. Most shops have sold out of candles and batteries and there is no word on when electricity would be restored.
The UN Food Agency has warned that Cyclone Nargis could trigger localised food shortages.
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