Kolkata/Bhubaneshwar/IBNS: The landfall process for the very severe cyclonic storm 'Dana', has commenced, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday night with West Bengal and Odisha bracing for the effects of the same amid heavy rains and strong winds.

"The severe cyclonic storm “DANA” (pronounced as Dana) over northwest Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centred at 2330 hrs IST of yesterday, the 24th October, over the same region, near latitude 20.5° N and longitude 87.1°E, about 50 km east-northeast of Paradip (Odisha), 40 km south-southeast of Dhamara (Odisha) and 160 km southwest of Sagar Island (West Bengal)," the Met department said in its latest post on X.

Heavy rains have been lashing southern West Bengal with the state government evacuating over 2.5 lakh people to safety as the severe cyclonic storm 'Dana,' is set to make landfall in Odisha after midnight.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the cyclone will make its final landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port and the effect is likely to last till Friday morning.

"It is very likely to move north-northwestwards and cross north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during next 3 to 4 hours as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting 120 kmph," the IMD forecast read.

The Odisha government has displaced 10 lakh people from 3,000 villages across 14 districts and relocated them to relief camps.

Meanwhile, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is present at state secretariat Nabanna to monitor the landfall process and likely damages the cyclone is expected to cause.

As of Thursday, 243,374 people had already taken shelter in relief camps.

"For evacuation from low-lying areas, we have identified 356,941 people," Banerjee told reporters.

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and home secretary Nandini Chakraborty are also overseeing the evacuation and relief operations.

As a precautionary measure, the East Coast Railway cancelled 198 trains that were scheduled to run from October 23 to 25.

Operations at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport were suspended from 6 pm on Thursday until 9 am on Friday.

The Bhubaneswar Airport also announced the shutting down of services from 5 pm on October 24 to 9 am on October 25.

Thirteen battalions from the state's disaster management force and 14 battalions from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the coastal regions.

The Indian Coast Guard has mobilised vessels and aircraft to respond to any distress situations at sea.