Cyclone Dana: Mass evacuations begin in Odisha coastal villages as landfall predicted near Bhitarkanika and Dhamra
Hundreds of residents from seaside villages in Odisha’s Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur and Balasore districts began evacuating to safer areas on October 23, 2024. Cyclonic Storm Dana over the east-central Bay of Bengal is expected to make landfall between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak district late on October 24, 2024, according to Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the IMD forecast issued 5 pm on October 23, Dana is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over the northwest Bay of Bengal by the morning of October 24.
It is expected to cross the north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island, near Bhitarkanika and Dhamra in Odisha, between the night of October 24 and the morning of October 25, with wind speeds of 100-110 kilometres per hour (kmph), gusting up to 120 kmph.
In Odisha, heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected over Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur, Puri, Khorda, Baleswar, Mayurbhanj, Kendujhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal. In West Bengal, South & North 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata and Bankura are likely to see rains.
Village residents, gripped by panic, are fleeing their homes in anticipation of the cyclone’s impact, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the 1999 super cyclone. “Cyclone Dana is set to hit our village, Rangani, near Bhitarkanika on October 24, as per the IMD’s prediction. We tied our two fishing boats at the jetty and moved to the cyclone shelter in the village,” said Golakh Mandal, a 55-year-old resident of Rangani.
Around 220 residents of sea-erosion-affected Satabhaya and Magarkandha villages in Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district, near Bhitarkanika, walked approximately 10 km to reach the cyclone shelter at Bagapatia. “The narrow, muddy road from Satabhaya to the shelter is unfit for vehicles, so we walked, crossing the crocodile-infested Bausagali River to save ourselves,” said Jagabandhu Behera, a 46-year-old resident of Satabhaya.
“We were hesitant to leave because we have 20 goats and two cows. But officials and our Sarpanch forced us to evacuate. We left the cows untied and secured the goats in a pen, hoping the tidal waves won’t kill them,” said Manorama Behera, wife of Jagabandhu, from the cyclone shelter at Bagapatia.
Satabhaya Gram Panchayat, once home to seven villages, is known as a fastest-eroding beach on Odisha's coast. Over the past 40 years, more than 700 homes and vast agricultural lands have been swallowed by the advancing sea. Only a small portion of Satabhaya remains, with six other villages — Gobindapur, Mohanpur, Chintamanipur, Badagahiramatha, Kanhupur and Kharikula — having been lost to the ocean.
Some families have resettled in Magarkandha, a few kilometres from Satabhaya, while others continue to live in the village, just metres from the sea. However, they all evacuated on October 23.
In 2018, the state government rehabilitated 577 families from Satabhaya at the Bagapatia colony, but around 115 families remain in Satabhaya and Magarkandha. “These families crossed the Bausagali River to reach the cyclone shelter on October 23,” said Prasana Parida, Sarpanch of Satabhaya Gram Panchayat.
Ashok Das, district emergency officer of Kendrapara, stated, “We have already moved many village residents to shelters from areas including Magarakandha, Satabhaya, Pentha, Rangani, Talacua, Suniti, Karandiapatana, Jamboo and others.”
Around 70,000 people in low-lying areas of Rajnagar and Mahakalapada blocks will be evacuated by October 23, he added. “We are using loudspeakers to warn people and will forcibly evacuate residents from high-risk areas if necessary. All two-storey government and private buildings, as well as schools and colleges, have been designated as cyclone shelters.”
Similar evacuations are taking place in Jagatsinghpur district, with thousands leaving their homes in Paradip, Erasama and Kujang areas ahead of the cyclone. Sambit Rout, Additional district magistrate of Jagatsinghpur, confirmed that many residents from low-lying villages have been moved to safety.
Since the IMD’s initial warning on October 20, coastal communities have been on high alert. Many workers in Paradip have already left the town and cautionary signals have been raised at Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur ports.
“The mission is ‘Zero Loss of Life’ and we are determined to evacuate approximately one million coastal residents by October 23,” said Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner, Deoranjan Kumar Singh.