Calcutta, Aug 27.—Life came to a standstill throughout the troubled Indian state of West Bengal today as millions of workers obeyed a call by trade unions for a 24-hour general strike.

Nearly all the offices, shops and factories were closed throughout the state, and public transport systems came to a halt. Essential supplies, such as electricity and water, were maintained, however, and relief workers in the East Pakistan refugee camps were allowed to carry out their duties.

The strike was called by six trade unions, the biggest of them dominated by the Marxist Communist Party, the most powerful of West Bengal's 28 political organizations.

The West Bengal Chambers of Commerce and Industry estimate that each strike costs the state almost £8.5m in lost production, trade turnover and earnings.

One effect of the stoppage has been to disrupt the sending of relief supplies to the flood-affected areas of West Bengal. The area most seriously hit is near Malda, about 220 miles north of Calcutta, where people have been driven from their homes by flood water three to seven feet deep. Gastroenteritis, cholera and other diseases have broken out and there is a shortage of food and drinking water.—Reuter.


Dacca, Aug 27. — Monsoon floods in East Pakistan have damaged Crops and properties worth about £50m, an informed source said here tonight. Officials confirmed that floods engulfed an area of 6,000 square miles.