No deaths in cyclone Dana in Odisha; flight and train services resumed in Kolkata
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday claimed that the state has achieved its "Zero Casualty Mission" as there has been no report regarding any loss of human life or injury in the severe cyclonic storm Dana which made landfall in the coast on Thursday night. Majhi who reviewed the cyclone situation here in the morning announced that there has been no human casualty in the calamity. "There is no report of any death of any human life. Our zero casualty Mission has been successful with the cooperation of everyone," Majhi announced.
Ahead of the formation of a cyclonic system in the Bay of Bengal, the Odisha government had set a target of "Zero Casualty" and worked in that direction from day one of the preparation, he said, adding that about six lakh people were evacuated to safety for which precious human lives have been saved. While thanking all the stakeholders including ministers, MLAs, other peoples representatives, rescue teams of NDRF, ODRAF, Fire Service, Odisha Police, social activists, media and others, the chief minister said: "By the grace of Lord Jagannath and cooperation of all, the government have succeeded in saving human lives."
Flight operations resumed at Kolkata airport in West Bengal from 8 am on Friday after cyclone Dana made landfall on the coast of neighbouring Odisha, officials said. Train services on the south section of the Sealdah Division under the Eastern Railway also resumed at 10 am after scheduled cancellations due to the cyclone, they said. The authorities of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here suspended flight operations since Thursday evening as a precautionary measure against cyclone Dana.
According to an Airports Authority of India (AAI) spokesperson here, the first flight departed from Kolkata at 8.40 am. IndiGo’s flight on the Kolkata-Imphal route was the first flight to depart from here, he said. The first flight to land here was of Vistara. It landed here around 8.45 am from Delhi, the AAI spokesperson said. In a tweet, Kolkata airport said, "Flight operations resumed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata at 08:00 hrs, after it was closed for flight operation yesterday in view of the cyclone Dana." Meanwhile, train services in the south section of the Sealdah Division restarted at 10 am with the first train being a Sonarpur local, a railway official said. Services will be restored gradually during the day, he added.
In view of the cyclonic storm, the South Eastern Railway (SER), which oversees routes in West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand, has cancelled more than 170 express and passenger trains scheduled between October 23 and 27. In addition, the Eastern Railway cancelled 68 suburban trains in the Howrah division for Friday morning, while all EMU local trains from Sealdah station were suspended from Thursday evening till October 25 morning. Heavy rains packed with gusty winds lashed parts of southern West Bengal as the landfall process of the severe cyclonic storm Dana was complete on Friday morning. However, the cyclonic storm continued to tear through the Odisha coast since midnight.