Bhubaneswar, Oct 23: Many places of Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts in Odisha experienced rain and adverse weather conditions on Wednesday afternoon as Cyclone 'Dana' began affecting the eastern coastline, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Senior IMD scientist Umashankar Das posted on X that "radar data from Paradip shows the outer bands of Cyclone 'Dana' have reached Bhadrak and Kendrapara."

The IMD said Cyclone ‘Dana’ is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra port, a distance of around 70km, early Friday.

In response to the cyclone’s movement, the Odisha government has expedited evacuation efforts in the coastal districts of Kendrapada, Bhadrak, Balasore, Puri and Jagatsinghpur.

The latest IMD bulletin forecast light to moderate rainfall—between 7 cm and 11 cm—at isolated locations in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Puri, Jajpur and Cuttack.

The Odisha government has started evacuations from potentially impacted areas likely to be badly affected by ‘Dana’. As many as six IAS officers have been given the charge of relief and rescue operations for six districts likely to be more affected by the severe cyclone.

All schools, colleges and universities in 14 coastal and neighbouring districts will remain closed for three days from today, while all scheduled examinations have also been cancelled.

The State government has also cancelled the leaves of all the doctors for three days from today and asked the hospitals to keep plenty of anti-venom injections and medicines for diarrhoea. 

More than 800 multipurpose cyclone shelters equipped with essential facilities like electricity, food and water have been readied in the coastal districts, officials said. 

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