Cyclone Dana spares Bengal, Odisha of major damage, brings heavy rains

  1 dies in Patharpratima :  WWater logging reported in coastal districts, knee-deep water in parts of Kolkata 

PTI, BHUBANESWAR/KOLKATA, OCT 25, 2024: 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 trees and electric poles.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reported that one person died due to the natural calamity, while Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi stated that no fatalities had been reported so far and credited the state’s "zero casualty mission."

The severe cyclonic storm Dana completed its landfall around 8:30 am on Friday, with the system taking at least eight and a half hours to enter the landmass, according to the IMD. The landfall of Dana began around 12:05 am on Friday between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara and Dhamra in Bhadrak district of Odisha, with wind speeds around 110 kmph. Majhi, who reviewed the cyclone situation in Bhubaneswar on Friday morning, announced that the state had achieved its "zero casualty mission" with no reported loss of life or injury in the severe cyclonic storm.

Majhi mentioned that many electrical installations, like poles and transformers, were damaged and are undergoing repair. "By 6 pm on Friday, electricity will be restored in all places, including the worst-hit districts of Kendrapara, Balasore, and Bhadrak," he said.

On Friday, Mamata Banerjee reported that one person had died in West Bengal due to Cyclone Dana, even as the administration evacuated approximately 2.16 lakh people from low-lying areas. The Chief Minister, who held a review meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna after spending the night there to monitor the situation, directed officials to ensure that relief materials reach all those affected by the cyclone. "Only one person died in this natural disaster. The man died at his residence while conducting some cable-related work. It is quite unfortunate. The postmortem examination will provide a clear picture, and if required, we (state government) will assist the family," she said.

Heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds lashed parts of southern West Bengal. Reports of waterlogging in areas like Mandarmani in Purba Medinipur and Gosaba in South 24 Parganas district have added to residents' challenges. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but initial reports indicated that the storm brought heavy rains, 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, officials said.

Flight operations resumed at Kolkata Airport in West Bengal from 8 am on Friday, following suspension since Thursday evening due to the cyclone. Train services on the south section of the Sealdah Division under Eastern Railway also restarted at 10 am, following scheduled cancellations due to the cyclone, officials said.

Flight and train services also resumed in Bhubaneswar on Friday morning, even as Cyclone Dana passed through the Odisha coast overnight. Biju Patnaik International Airport restarted operations with the first flight landing around 9 am, according to Majhi. The East Coast Railway (ECoR) announced that trains resumed according to schedule, except for previously cancelled routes. Approximately 203 trains had been cancelled as a precautionary measure for Cyclone Dana. Trains coming from Visakhapatnam, Howrah, and Kharagpur to Bhubaneswar have resumed, an ECoR official said, noting that a train on the Kharagpur-Visakhapatnam route would reach Bhadrak Station by 2 pm.

The railway authorities also confirmed that trains scheduled to depart from Bhubaneswar and Puri would commence in the afternoon on Friday, except for those previously cancelled. Large areas of Kolkata experienced significant waterlogging in the morning hours of Friday, with Cyclone Dana bringing heavy rain, inundating various parts of the city. According to the regional Met office in Alipore, Kolkata recorded over 100 mm of rainfall as of 11:30 am on Friday in the past 24 hours.

Knee-deep water on several thoroughfares in south and central Kolkata disrupted traffic in Bhawanipur, New Market, Hazra, Dharmatala, and Behala areas. Reports of waterlogging also came from areas such as Thanthania Kalibari, Mahatma Gandhi Road, VIP Road, Park Circus, Dum Dum, and parts of New Town in the northern and eastern parts of the city. 

Significant flooding was also seen inside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) headquarters in the Esplanade area, while patients, staff, and health workers were found wading through ankle-deep water at SSKM Hospital, one of the state’s primary referral hospitals, causing major inconvenience to visitors and raising apprehensions of water-borne infections. Rainwater accumulation was also noticed at the OPD wing of the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, another state-run tertiary healthcare facility in the city.