Bhubaneswar, October 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday spoke to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi over phone to take stock of the preparedness to tackle cyclone Dana.
The Chief Minister briefed the PM and Union Home Minister on the taken by the State Government for evacuation of people in vulnerable areas to be affected by the cyclonic storm.
The State Government will evacuate around 4 lakh people out of which 3.5 lakh people have already been evacuated till 6 PM.
The cyclonic storm will cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara during mid-night of Thursday and Friday morning as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph.
The latest IMD bulletin stated, “The severe cyclonic storm Dana over northwest Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 13 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 1730 hrs IST of today, the 24th October, over the same region, near latitude 19.8° N and longitude 87.5°E, about 100 km east-southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 130 km south-southeast of Dhamara (Odisha) and 210 km south-southwest of Sagar Island (West Bengal).”
“It is very likely to move north-northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during mid-night of 24th to morning of 25th October, 2024 as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph,” it added.
The system is under continuous surveillance of the Doppler Weather Radar at Paradip and Gopalpur.
