Odisha and West Bengal authorities have issued red alerts as Cyclone Dana moves closer to making landfall along the eastern coast. With wind speeds expected to exceed 120 km/h, the cyclone has already triggered widespread transportation disruptions and forced evacuation efforts across vulnerable areas.
Odisha is preparing to evacuate almost 10 lakh people from several coastal districts as the storm is predicted to reach land by October 25. As a precaution, more than 1.14 lakh persons in West Bengal have already been relocated to shelters. According to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, more than 30% of the 10 lakh people who were targeted had been relocated to safe locations by Wednesday night due to Cyclone Dana. The authorities set a goal to evacuate 10,60,336 people from 14 districts on Tuesday.
Cyclone Dana has caused the cancellation of more than 170 express and passenger trains operating within the jurisdiction of South Eastern Railway (SER). Due to the cyclonic storm "Dana" over the Bay of Bengal, the Eastern Railway (ER) would not run any EMU local trains from Sealdah station in its south and Hasnabad sections from 8 p.m. on October 24 to 10 a.m. on October 25. According to the official, around 7 p.m. on October 24, the final train from Hasnabad and Namkhana stations—near the North and South 24 Parganas districts coast—will leave for Sealdah. On October 25, the ER also cancelled 68 suburban trains in its Howrah division.
In anticipation of Cyclone Dana, flight operations at Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport would be halted for 15 hours beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Flight operations will be suspended from 6 p.m. on October 25 until 9 a.m. on October 26, according to airport officials.
The West Bengal administration declared on Tuesday that educational institutions and schools would continue to be closed in several regions of the state. Academic activities in seven districts—South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura, Hooghly, Howrah, and Kolkata—will be suspended from October 23 to October 26, according to a notice released by the West Bengal government's school education department.
Odisha and West Bengal governments are working round-the-clock to minimize the damage from Cyclone Dana. However, as the storm gathers strength, the full impact will only become clear in the coming hours.
