Dana makes landfall, leaves 2 dead in WB

Cyclone Dana spared Odisha and West Bengal of any severe damage to infrastructure while flight and rail operations resumed on Friday after the cyclonic storm completed landfall, triggering heavy rains and uprooting of trees and electric poles.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi asserted that there had been no fatality so far and the state achieved its ‘zero casualty mission’, while West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said two persons died due to the natural calamity.

Achieved ‘zero casualty mission’: Majhi

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi asserted that there had been no fatality so far and the state achieved its ‘zero casualty mission’, while West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said two persons died due to the natural calamity.

The severe cyclonic storm Dana completed its landfall around 8.30 am on Friday and the system took at least eight and a half hours to enter the landmass, the IMD said.

The landfall of Dana started around 12.05 am on Friday between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara and Dhamra in Bhadrak district of Odisha with wind speeds of around 110 kmph.

Majhi, who reviewed the cyclone situation in Bhubaneswar this morning, announced that the state achieved its “zero casualty mission” as there had been “no report regarding any loss of human life or injury in the severe cyclonic storm”.

The Chief Minister said all roads blocked by uprooted trees would be cleared during the day as the rescue team had already started working as soon as the intensity of wind reduced on Thursday night.

Majhi said electrical installations such as poles and transformers were being repaired.

The West Bengal CM on Friday said two persons died in the state in the cyclone even as the administration evacuated around 2.16 lakh people from the low-lying areas.

Banerjee, who held a review meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna after spending the night there to monitor the situation, directed the officials to ensure that relief materials reach all those affected by the cyclone.

Heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed parts of southern West Bengal.

The extent of the damage is still being assessed, but initial reports suggest that the storm brought heavy rain, which continued till Friday, causing inundation in low-lying areas.

Thirteen teams from the state’s disaster management force and 14 battalions from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the Bengal coastal regions, the officials said.

Flight operations resumed at Kolkata airport in West Bengal from 8 am on Friday after being suspended since Thursday evening in view of the cyclonic storm.

Train services on the south section of the Sealdah Division under the Eastern Railway also restarted

at 10 am after scheduled cancellations due to the cyclone, they said.

Flight and train services also resumed in Bhubaneswar on Friday morning even though cyclone Dana tore through the Odisha coast since midnight.

According to the regional Met office in Alipore, Kolkata received over 100 mm of rainfall till 11.30 am on Friday over the previous 24 hours.