BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government on Thursday mounted efforts to complete the evacuation of people from seaside and vulnerable places as tropical weather system 'Dana' turned into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal while advancing towards the state's north coastal districts.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reviewed the evacuation as well as rescue, relief and restoration measures for the post-cyclone scenario with his cabinet colleagues as well as senior officers of the state administration.
The Odisha government is targeting to evacuate 10 lakh people from 14 districts that can be impacted by the cyclone. Over 3 lakh people were evacuated by Wednesday evening and districts continued efforts on war footing to complete it.
Rescue agencies - National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and Odisha Fire and Emergency Service evacuated people on the day from the vulnerable pockets, especially in coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore.
Additional Special Relief Commissioner Padmanav Behera told TNIE that they will update the figure of the total number of evacuees by 1 pm on the day.
The Odisha government has mobilised 19 teams from NDRF, 51 teams from ODRAF and 178 fire services teams. Additionally, 40 teams were deployed in the districts to carry out rescue and relief operations.
Even as the evacuation efforts were underway, Dana intensified into a severe cyclone at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. It moved in a north-northwest direction with a speed of 12 km/h in the last six hours and lay over the north-west Bay of Bengal, about 210 km south-east of Paradip and 240 km south-southeast of Dhamra by 8.30 am on Thursday.
Under its impact, coastal districts from Puri to Bhadrak were hit by strong wind accompanied by rain. The uprooting of trees are also reported.
DG, Fire Services Sudhanshu Sarangi said the rescue and relief teams are deployed strategically across the vulnerable locations.
Dana is likely to advance in the north-west direction and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island, close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamra, between Thursday night and Friday morning as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 100 km/h to 110 km/h and gusting up to 120 km/h.
After crossing the coast, the system may re-curve in west and southwestward direction and likely trigger rains in southern districts of the state on Saturday. Director of Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Manorama Mohanty said, "Storm surge is expected to be 1 metre to 2 metres and it is likely to inundate low-lying areas of Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts during the cyclone's landfall."
The IMD indicated that Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal districts will bear the maximum impact of the strong tropical storm.
In the last 24 hours, Jagatsinghpur recorded 62.9 mm rain and Bhadrak 46.2 mm. Rainfall activity and strong winds prevailed over Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts on Thursday.
About 800 cyclone shelters were opened for the people who have been evacuated from the vulnerable areas. At least 500 temporary shelters including in schools and colleges were also set up by the authorities.
As a precautionary measure, East Coast Railways cancelled 198 trains passing through and originating from Odisha. Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) cancelled flight operations between Thursday 5 pm and Friday 9 am to ensure the safety of the passengers.