Cyclone Dana: Trains cancelled; Odisha, Bengal brace for landfall on October 25 with wind speed of 120 kmph

The Odisha and West Bengal governments have started evacuating people and decided to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas, as cyclone Dana is set to cross the coasts in the early hours of October 25 with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph.

The Odisha government has planned to shift more than 10 lakh people from 3,000 villages in 14 districts to relief camps, with half of the state’s population likely to be affected by the impending cyclone, news agency PTI reported.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said her government is ready to face the cyclone Dana.

The cyclone Dana has also affected the train movement with several trains cancelled. Train No. 06087 from Tirunelveli Junction – Shalimar Special scheduled to leave Tirunelveli on October 24 has been cancelled.

Similarly, the train from Bhubaneswar to Rameswaram (Rmanathapuram), Superfast Express scheduled to leave Bhubaneswar on October 25 has been cancelled.

Cyclone Dana: Here are top 10 updates

The Indian Coast Guard said it was on high alert and had mobilised its vessels and aircraft to respond swiftly to any contingency owing to the cyclone that will bring torrential rain in the two neighbouring states.

India Meteorological Department director general Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the entire eastern coast from Puri in Odisha and Sagar Island West Bengal coast is likely to be impacted by the impending cyclone Dana.

Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi urged all the MLAs to coordinate with the administration in rescue and relief operations in Odisha, which is likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone.

Multipurpose cyclone shelters, flood shelters and other buildings have been identified to shelter the vulnerable population. Arrangements have been made for the provision of food, drinking water, lighting, sanitation and health facilities to the people to be evacuated to such shelters, revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari said.

Based on the IMD forecast, the Odisha government has put 14 districts such as Angul, Puri, Nayagarh, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj on alert.

All educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities will remain closed in 14 districts of Odisha from October 23 to 25 in view of the impending cyclone.

In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said schools will remain closed in seven districts from October 23 to 26 as a precautionary measure.

The districts in Bengal likely to experience the most significant effects of the storm include South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, and Purba Medinipur, along with coastal areas and neighbouring districts like Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Jhargram, and Hooghly.

More than 150 express and passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway jurisdiction have been cancelled in view of cyclone Dana. The trains cancelled include Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express, Kamakhya-Yesvantpur AC Express, Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express, Howrah-Bhubaneswar Shatabdi Express and Howrah-Yesvantpur Express. The East Coast Railways has also cancelled as many as 198 trains passing through and originating from Odisha.

10. Advising fishermen not to venture into the sea from October 23 to 25, the IMD warned that wind speed is likely to reach 60 kilometres per hour (kmph) along and off Odisha-West Bengal coasts and gradually increase after that.

Pujari said the government has also prepared a list of pregnant women who are expected to deliver in a fortnight. All those women are being shifted to the nearby hospital in order to avoid any difficulty during the calamity.

“As of now, more than 5,000 relief centres have been set up with modern facilities to provide water, food and milk to children and medicines for injured people. We are expecting around 10 lakh evacuations,” he said.

Authorities of the Kolkata airport have started preparations to tackle any situation arising out of a possible cyclonic storm that could hit coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha on October 25, a senior official said on Tuesday.

The standard operating procedures such as inspection of the airport infrastructure and the drainage system, checking and servicing of all installations are being carried out, he said.