Cyclone Dana: Jharkhand badly hit but impact minor in Bengal; no deaths in Odisha
- 25 Oct 2024
Cyclone Dana has significantly impacted Jharkhand after it hit the coast of Odisha on Thursday midnight. Heavy rain lashed various regions in the state, especially in the Kolhan division, which has seen consistent downpour since Thursday evening.
In Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday said that the state has achieved ‘Zero Casualty’ by successfully tackling the impact of the severe cyclonic storm.
Flight services at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata resumed on Friday morning an hour before the end of the scheduled 15-hour closure period. Similarly, the train services from Sealdah division of Eastern Railways, which were kept suspended from 8pm since Thursday, also resumed a little after 10am on Friday.
In Jharkhand, areas like Jagannathpur, Saraikela, and Baharagora received the highest rainfall in the past 24 hours. Other affected districts include Giridih, Godda, Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Sahibganj, and Lohardaga.
On Thursday, Maheshpur in Pakur saw the highest downpour, recording 86mm of rain, followed by Rajmahal with 42.2mm. The Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for Kolhan and a yellow alert for Ranchi and nearby areas.
Due to the rain and storm, all schools in East and West Singhbhum, as well as Saraikela-Kharsawan districts within the Kolhan division will remain closed on Friday.
A directive from the School Education and Literacy Department confirms the closure of classes from KG to 12 across government, government-aided, non-aided, and private schools, including minority institutions, on Friday.
Flights from Ranchi to Bhubaneswar and Kolkata on Friday have been cancelled, and around 10 trains passing through or headed to Jharkhand have also been halted.
The Jharkhand Disaster Management Department is on high alert, and the electricity department has cancelled leave of employees to address any urgent needs.
The Meteorological Department anticipates similar weather on October 26, with possible lightning strikes across Jharkhand. Fog is expected on October 26-27, followed by a drop in temperatures from October 28.
Farmers have been advised to drain excess water from their fields and harvest ripe vegetables promptly to prevent crop damage.
Zero casualties in Odisha, displaced people return home
Earlier on Friday, Cyclone Dana hit the Odisha coast, uprooting trees and snapping power lines in several areas. The storm made landfall around midnight between Bhitarkanika in the Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday said that the state has achieved ‘Zero Casualty’ by successfully tackling the impact of severe cyclonic storm Dana.
After reviewing the situation, CM Majhi said that the target of Zero Casualty has been achieved successfully due to the swift and timely action by the state administration.
"The concerned departments have reached the spots where roads are blocked, electric poles are uprooted and electric transformers are damaged and started restoration work there. By 1pm today, the roads will be cleared by removing uprooted trees at all such places. Power supply will also be restored in all these areas by today evening,” said CM Majhi.
The Chief Minister also informed that flight operations at Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar have resumed from 9am on Friday.
He said that the state, with Lord Jagannath’s blessing, has tackled the impact of severe cyclonic storm Dana successfully.
He thanked the senior government officials, police personnel, doctors, legislators and Ministers for their coordinated efforts to mitigate the impact of the cyclone.
CM Majhi said that the wind speed and rainfall are expected to decrease gradually in the affected areas. He said that people shifted to cyclone shelters have also started returning to their homes. He asserted that no human casualties have been reported due to the effect of the storm.
As per IMD, the storm is likely to move northwestwards across north Odisha and weaken gradually into a deep depression during the next six hours. The cyclone is currently centred over north coastal Odisha, about 30km northeast of Bhadrak and 50km north-northwest of Dhamara.
Marginal effect in West Bengal
Except for torrential rain in coastal districts and adjoining areas in West Bengal, Cyclone Dana's impact on the state has been nominal.
No major devastation was reported from the two coastal districts of East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas, which the weather office had predicted would be the worst hit in the state.
Torrential rain, which began late Thursday night in different districts of South Bengal including the state capital of Kolkata, was continuing.
According to predictions of the Regional Meteorological Office in Kolkata, heavy showers will continue in the districts of South Bengal throughout the day and the intensity of the rainfall is expected to recede in the evening.
According to the state administration, the maximum impact during the landfall process was reported from coastal Sundarbans areas like Namkhana, Sagar Islands and Patharpratima, where several trees were uprooted because of heavy wind. Trident lampposts, especially near the 'Kapil Muni Ashram' in Sagar Island, too were severely damaged.
The red alert was continuing in South 24 Paragons district and East Midnapore.
When the landfall process was on, the maximum wind speed in the coastal pockets was around 120 kilometres an hour. However, the speed came down to around 90 kilometres an hour after the landfall process was completed.
Cyclone Dana will weaken into a deep depression this evening.
The heavy rain was likely to damage the harvestable crops, especially paddy and potato, in the state.
Prices of certain essential food items in the retail markets were also expected to be high before the forthcoming festive season of Kali Puja and Diwali.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and State Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty were present at the state secretariat Nabanna throughout Thursday night monitoring the situation from the control room.
The closure of Kolkata airport was done as a precaution.
The schedule of the suspension of flight operations was from 6pm on Thursday to 9am on Friday. However, from the latest information available, after a survey of the situation, the airport authorities decided to resume flight operations at 8am.
Sources said the first flight that took off from Kolkata airport on Friday morning was destined for Imphal.
Similarly, the first flight to arrive in Kolkata was from New Delhi.
Indo-Asian News Service