Cyclone ‘Dana’ to make landfall in Odisha coast tonight

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New Delhi: The cyclonic storm ‘Dana’ formed over the east-central Bay of Bengal is set to make landfall along the Odisha coast between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra, late Thursday or early Friday morning.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted wind speeds of 100 to 120 km per hour during the landfall of ‘Dana’ with widespread impact on the region.

The cyclonic is 420 km from Paradip and 450 km from Dhamra off Odisha coast and 500 km from Sagar Island off West Bengal coast and it is moving at a speed of 15 km per hour in the Bay of Bengal.

“It is very likely to move northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during mid-night of 24th to morning of 25th October, 2024 as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph” IMD said.

Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General India Meteorological Department, Said Cyclonic storm “DAANA” over east-central Bay of Bengal is likely to move northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over northwest Bay of Bengal by 24th October morning”.

Kendrapara, Balasore and Bhadrak districts of Odisha will be worst affected by ‘Dana’ along with very heavy rainfalls, while 11 other districts of the state will also experience heavy rainfalls under its impact.

Cyclone Dana will bring heavy rains to the southern part of West Bengal and coastal Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the latter’s population after it makes landfall.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who reviewed the state government’s preparedness, said that only 30 per cent of the people, or around 3-4 lakh people living in the identified ‘danger zone’, have been evacuated by Wednesday evening.

All air services from and to Biju Patnaik International Airport at Bhubaneswar have been cancelled from 5 this evening till 9 tomorrow morning. People living in low lying areas in coastal areas have been shifted to multipurpose cyclone centers.

All schools, colleges, universities and many government institutions have been closed till tomorrow. Leaves of doctors and government employees have been cancelled, while a large number of passenger trains have been cancelled. Fishermen have been banned from entering the sea.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw held a high-level meeting on Wednesday with senior officials of the Railway Board and the East Coast and South Eastern zones to review their preparedness to minimise the impact of the cyclone.

Nine round-the-clock dedicated war rooms will be established to promptly restore rail services amid red alert along east coast in the wake of cyclone DANA.

The decision was taken in the meeting chaired by the Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to review the preparedness by the concerned Zonal Railways.

The Minister has instructed to ensure maximum preparedness with minimal disruption. He also advised that care must be taken to ensure minimum inconvenience to passengers.

These nine war rooms will be established at Bhubaneswar, Garden Reach, Divisional offices of Khurda Road, Visakhapatnam, Sambalpur, Chakradharpur, Adra, Ranchi, Kharagpur and Balasore.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has implemented a series of preventive measures to safeguard lives and property loss ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Dana.

The ICG has been closely monitoring the situation and has taken proactive steps to ensure preparedness for dealing with any emergency arising from the cyclone’s impact.

The Ministry of Defence said that ICG has tasked ships, aircraft and Remote Operating Stations at West Bengal and Odisha to broadcast regular weather warnings and safety advisories to fishermen and mariners.

These alerts are being transmitted continuously to all fishing vessels, urging them to return to shore immediately and seek safe shelter

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