The severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana’ is gaining strength in the Bay of Bengal and is heading towards the Odisha coast at 4 km per hour, with a landfall expected on the intervening night of this Thursday and Friday. ‘Dana’ is anticipated to make landfall between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara and Bhadrak or Balasore off the Odisha coast. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the depression formed over the east-central Bay of Bengal is likely to move west-northwestward and intensify into a cyclonic storm by tomorrow morning over the east-central Bay of Bengal. Thereafter, it is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over the northwest Bay of Bengal by Thursday morning. The severe cyclonic storm is expected to strike the Odisha coast with wind speeds of 100 to 110 km per hour, gusting up to 120 km per hour at the time of landfall.

The government has started evacuations from potentially impacted areas likely to be badly affected by ‘Dana’. Six IAS officers have been given the charge of relief and rescue operations for six districts likely to be more affected by the severe cyclone.  All schools, colleges and universities in 14 coastal and neighbouring districts will remain closed for three days from tomorrow, while all scheduled examinations have also been cancelled. The state government has also cancelled the leaves of all the doctors for three days from tomorrow and asked the hospitals to keep plenty of anti-venom injections and medicines for diarrhoea. The East Coast Railways has cancelled 198 trains for three days from tomorrow. Over 500 multipurpose cyclone shelters equipped with essential facilities like electricity, food and water have been readied in the coastal districts. The state government has asked the Centre for more NDRF teams to deploy in red zone districts predicted by the IMD for evacuation and relief operations. All ports have been given a red alert, while fishermen have been banned from entering the sea from tomorrow.