Three states gear up as Cyclone Dana looms closer

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday, 23 October, predicted that the impending cyclonic storm Dana is expected to hit the Odisha coast between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamara area of Bhadrak district on 24 and 25 October.

“It is very likely to move northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over northwest Bay of Bengal by the early morning of 24 October and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts,” the IMD said.

IMD director-general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the coastal areas of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, and Balasore districts in Odisha are likely to witness high tidal waves surging 1 to 2 meters in height.

The Odisha government has evacuated residents living in around 3,000 identified vulnerable places in the relevant districts. As many as 288 rescue teams including 51 ODRAF, 19 NDRF, and 178 Fire Services teams have been deployed in 13 districts. Around 6,000 cyclone shelters and relief centres have come up, with special arrangements made for women.

The IMD has also issued an orange alert for Jharkhand, with Cyclone Dana forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rainfall across the state until 25 October.

As a precautionary measure, several trains passing through or heading to Jharkhand have been cancelled. According to the latest bulletin from the IMD, south-eastern parts of Jharkhand are likely to receive heavy rains and wind speeds of 40-50 kmph, which could escalate to 60 kmph tomorrow, 24 October.

Among the cancelled trains are the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani (via Muri, train no. 22824) on 23 October, Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani (via Muri, train no. 22823) on 25 October, Tapaswini Express (train no. 18451/18452) between Puri and Hatia on 24 October, Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad Garib Rath (train no. 02831/02832) on 24 October, and Puri-Anand Vihar Terminal Express (via Muri, train no. 12875) on 25 October.

Bus services from Bhubaneswar and Puri to cities like Ranchi, Jamshedpur, and Dhanbad have also been suspended from Wednesday to Friday.

The cyclone is also likely to bring rainfall to Assam and other northeastern states over the next few days. According to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Guwahati, moderate rain is very likely to occur at many places over Mizoram and Tripura, while light to moderate rain is very likely to occur at a few places over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur.

According to a weather department bulletin, the well-marked low-pressure area over the east-central Bay of Bengal has concentrated into a depression which will intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over the northwest Bay of Bengal by Thursday.

"Weather will improve from 27 October in the majority of northeastern states except Tripura," the official added.

As the cyclone is expected to bring heavy rain to Odisha and Bengal, the Indian Coast Guard said it was on high alert and had kept its ships and planes to react quickly to any emergency.

The state administrations have made arrangements for sufficient stock of food items, essential medicines, water and electricity arrangements at the relief centres and cyclone shelters.

The impact of Cyclone Dana on West Bengal is unlikely to be anywhere near the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan in 2020, which was the strongest after the 1999 Odisha cyclone, officials at Kolkata's RMC said.

Data received earlier today showed Cyclone Dana located somewhere between 560 km from Paradeep in Odisha, less than 700 km from Sagar Islands in West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh.

Dark clouds have already covered the skies in different coastal areas of West Bengal, with capital Kolkata receiving a short, sharp spell of rain in the afternoon. Red and orange alerts have been issued in certain districts of south Bengal, especially in the coastal areas, for the next two days, where heavy rainfall has been predicted.

As per earlier predictions by the IMD, the wind speed after landfall in the coastal areas is likely to be around 120 kmph, and the maximum wind speed in Kolkata is expected to be around 80 kmph. The office has also cautioned about the possible impact on communication systems.

The other likely impact will be on embankments in the Sundarbans area of South 24 Parganas district, harvestable crops on farmlands in certain districts of south Bengal, and the collapse of mud houses or shanties, among others. The three coastal districts of East Medinipur, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas are expected to witness maximum rainfall.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has announced the closing of educational institutions in nine districts of south Bengal from 23-25 October. State-level and district-level control rooms have been opened, and fishermen are being stopped from going deep into the sea. The district administrations have been asked to shift people residing in low-lying areas to safer places.