Odisha is prepared to face Cyclone Dana, which is expected to begin its landfall around midnight on Thursday in a large area between the Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district and Dhamara in Bhadrak district.

The process has begun to evacuate more than 10 lakh people from vulnerable locations. Nearly 5,000 relief centres have been set up across 14 districts. Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi visited the special relief commissioner’s (SRC) office on Wednesday evening and reviewed the preparedness. Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik urged people to cooperate with the administration and stay safe.

Both the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have reached the vulnerable pockets with their men and machinaries. The state has already deployed 19 NDRF teams, 51 ODRAF teams, 178 fire service teams and another 40 dedicated teams to the vulnerable districts.

Bhubaneswar airport will be closed from 5pm on October 24 to 9am on October 25.

In order to ensure that there is no disruption anywhere, chief minister Majhi has assigned nine districts to nine ministers. Six senior IAS officers have been deputed to the districts to coordinate with the districts with that of the state administration.

Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari said: “We are ensuring that all the pregnant and elder women are evacuated from the vulnerable pockets of the state.”

Tourists are being seen leaving Puri, without taking much risk. Many of the widows and elderly women, who had congregated in Puri to do the fasting in the ongoing Kartik month, also started leaving the pilgrim city. Those who are not willing to go have been advised not to move out of the building where the district administration had made special arrangements for them.

The state government has postponed the preliminary examination of the Odisha Civil Service, scheduled to be held on October 27.

Many areas in the state are likely to experience heavy rainfall. The coastal belt of Odisha, particularly Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Puri may bear the brunt of the cyclone’s landfall.

IMD director-general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said: “The landfall process of the cyclonic storm will take around five hours and may stretch for a few hours. It will start on Thursday night and its impact will be stretched to Friday morning. It will cross the Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara and Dhamara in Bhadrak. Under its impact, high tides up to one metre high will come in the Bay of Bengal in Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts. High tides up to a half metre will come in the Bay of Bengal of Jagatsinghpur district. Many areas are likely to be inundated.”

Sources said high tides are also expected in the sea at Puri.

The cyclonic storm is currently located about 460km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 490km south-southeast of Dhamara (Odisha) and 540km south-southeast of Sagar Island (Bengal) and it’s inching towards the land mass.

The IMD in a release said: “It is very likely to move northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm over northwest Bay of Bengal by early morning of 24th and cross north Odisha and Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara (Odisha) during night of 24th to morning of 25th October, as a severe Cyclonic Storm with a wind speed of 100-110kmph gusting 120kmph.”

Bhitarakanika has already witnessed heavy rainfall on Wednesday as the outer part of the cyclonic system has touched some areas of Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts.

Rajnagar divisional forest officer (DFO) Sudarshan G. Yadav told The Telegraph: “The mangrove forests in Bhitarakanika cover approximately 209sq km and serve as a natural defence, protecting both humans and animals.”

Fearing the entry of crocodiles and other reptiles into human habitations from the sanctuary, the DFO has constituted two dedicated teams to deal with it. “We have provided them nets and other equipment to catch animals and crocodiles.” Another five teams have been constituted to clear the roads.

Yadav said: “The sanctuary will remain closed for Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, we will take a call on whether we should further shut down the sanctuary or not.”