Around 1,30,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas in West Bengal’s coastal districts and more were likely to be shifted to shelters as severe cyclone Dana with wind gusts of up to 120 km per hour was expected to make landfall late on Thursday on the east coast.
The cyclone is also expected to trigger heavy rains, prompting the closure of the Kolkata airport from 6pm on Thursday to 9am on Friday.
The South Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway have cancelled trains because of the cyclone. Ferry services between Howrah and Kolkata across the River Hooghly have been suspended.
State disaster management and civil defence minister Javed Khan said over 100,000 people have evacuated from vulnerable and low-lying areas in the coastal districts particularly in East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas. “More are likely to be shifted later in the day. Preparations are going on in full swing,” he said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the cyclone was over northwest and adjoining central Bay of Bengal, about 260 km southeast from Paradip (Odisha) and 350 km south from Sagar Island (West Bengal), around 5:30am on Thursday.
“It is very likely to move north-westwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara in Odisha in the early hours of Friday as a severe cyclone with a wind speed of 100-110 km per hour, gusting up to 120 kmph,” said an IMD official.
In May, severe cyclone Remal crossed Bangladesh and the adjoining West Bengal coast and left a trail of destruction in three coastal districts of the eastern Indian state. At least six people were killed and over 200,000 people were displaced.