Many places of Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts in Odisha experienced rain and adverse weather conditions on Wednesday as Cyclone 'DANA' began affecting the eastern coastline, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The IMD said Cyclone ‘Dana’ is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra port, a distance of around 70km, in between Thursday late night to early Friday morning.
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.
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.