Cyclone Dana: Puts West Bengal on High Alert: Precautionary measures intensified

Kolkata, October 23: West Bengal has been placed on high alert as Cyclone Dana nears landfall, expected between Bhitarkanika in Odisha's Kendrapara district and the Dhamara area of Bhadrak district. Authorities have undertaken a series of precautionary actions to minimize the cyclone's impact.

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Flight services at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport have been canceled for 15 hours starting Thursday. Similarly, train services, including local trains in both the north and south sections of the Sealdah division of Eastern Railways, will be suspended for 14 hours during the same period. Coastal train services from stations like Namkhana in South 24 Parganas and Hasnabad in North 24 Parganas will also be halted.

A senior official from Eastern Railways confirmed that 190 local trains would be affected, citing passenger safety as the priority. Control rooms have been set up at the state secretariat Nabanna and district headquarters, while Kolkata Municipal Corporation has opened a separate control center.

The Chief Secretary is receiving hourly updates from district magistrates, especially from the nine most vulnerable districts, and is regularly briefing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Red alerts have been issued for South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, and parts of West Midnapore. Tourists in coastal hubs like Digha and Mandarmani have been evacuated, and schools in nine districts remain closed until Friday. People in low-lying areas have also been relocated to safer zones.

Although precautions are in place, the Regional Meteorological Office has predicted that the impact of Cyclone Dana will not reach the scale of the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan in 2020. The cyclone is currently located around 540 kilometers from Sagar Islands and 490 kilometers from Dhamara, the anticipated landfall site.