By Sujoy Dhar
KOLKATA, India, May 25 (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed in eastern India and Bangladesh on Monday when a cyclone slammed into coastal areas and triggered tidal surges and flooding, leaving thousands homeless, officials said.
Authorities shut down operations at Bangladesh's main ports of Chittagong and Mongla as the storm bearing winds of up to 100 kph (60 mph) hit the neighbouring eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
Heavy rains triggered by the storm raised river levels and burst mud embankments in West Bengal's Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, which holds thousands of people as well as the world's biggest tiger reserve.
"The situation is very grave, countless families have been displaced, especially in the Sundarbans," said Kanti Ganguly, state minister for the Sundarbans.
At least 10 people died in the storm in West Bengal, mostly due to house collapses or falling trees, officials said.
Heavy rains caused flooding in the streets of state capital Kolkata as strong winds uprooted trees and communication lines. Television pictures showed rescue workers struggling to bring out a man trapped in his car.
"Our village is submerged, we are living in camps and have no clue what further calamity awaits us," Anil Krishna Mistry, a villager, told Reuters by telephone from Bali in Sundarbans.
Tourists were asked to stay in their hotels in West Bengal's southern coastal resort of Digha, four hours drive from Kolkata.
BANGLADESH
Tidal waves triggered by the storm in the Bay of Bengal damaged thousands of houses in Bangladesh, in mostly Khulna district near the Sundarbans.
At least seven people were killed in storm surges and house collapses, officials said.
"Thousands of families have been moved to shelters and many left on their own," said Salahuddin Chowdhury, an official of the Cyclone Preparedness Centre in Chittagong.
The storm surge washed away dozens of shrimp farms and inundated rice fields in Bangladesh which is battered by storms every year.
In November 2007, cyclone Sidr ravaged a large part of the country's coast, killing nearly 3,500 people and displacing around two million.
(Additional reporting by Sujoy Dhar and Jatindra Dash in India, Nizam Ahmed and Serajul Islam Quadir in Bangladesh; Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)