The Indian Railways has cancelled nearly 350 trains to ensure passenger safety as Cyclone Dana is expected to make landfall in Odisha on October 24 or 25. The East Coast  Railway (ECoR), in an X post, wrote, “Cyclone Dana – ECoR cancelled following trains for Safety and Security of Passengers and Trains.”

Earlier, the list of cancelled trains included 94 UP and 103 Down trains. The ECoR has now added another 23 trains to the cancelled list on Tuesday night, taking the total number to 232.

Cyclone “Dana” – ECoR cancelled following trains for Safety and Security of Passengers and Trains.@RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/UYEgGuEQlu

— East Coast Railway (@EastCoastRail) October 22, 2024

According to a recent notification by ECoR, some train services will remain suspended for three days, from October 23 to October 25. A 24/7 Disaster Management Cell has been established at ECoR’s headquarters and divisional offices to facilitate rapid restoration of train services and infrastructure following potential disruptions.

#ser #IndianRailways pic.twitter.com/UJ8idcVCTf

— South Eastern Railway (@serailwaykol) October 22, 2024

The South Eastern Railway also cancelled several express and passenger trains, including Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express, Kamakhya-Yesvantpur AC Express, Howrah-Bhubaneswar Shatabdi Express, Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express, and Howrah-Yesvantpur Express.

pic.twitter.com/HLz5m2u3cQ

— Eastern Railway (@EasternRailway) October 22, 2024

Meanwhile, the Eastern Railways also cancelled several express trains, including Kolkata-Puri, Puri-Kolkata, Patna-Ernakulam Express, Dibrugarh-Kanniyakumari, and Bengaluru-Guwahati, among others.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday, said that the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm, Dana. It is likely to cross the coasts of Odisha and West Bengal as a severe cyclonic storm during October 24-25 with a wind speed ranging from 100 to 110 km per hour and gusts up to 120 miles per hour.

“The deep depression over east-central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 18 km per hour during past six hours intensified into a cyclonic storm ‘Dana’ and lay centred over the same region about 560 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 630 km south-southeast of Sagar Island (West Bengal) and 630 km south-southeast of Khepupara (Bangladesh),” the bulletin issued by IMD said.

Authorities in Odisha, West Bengal, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other rescue teams are on high alert as the depression has intensified.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has mobilised its vessels and aircraft to be ready for any emergencies in the Bay of Bengal. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are deployed in high-risk zones, with control rooms established at state and district levels to coordinate rescue efforts.

Schools in coastal areas of Odisha and West Bengal will remain closed for the next few days due to Cyclone Dana.

In Odisha, schools in the districts of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Angul, Khurda, Nayagargh, and Cuttack to remain closed from October 23 to October 25.

The West Bengal School Education Department suspended all academic activities from October 23 to October 26 in seven districts, including South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura, Hooghly, Howrah, and Kolkata.