Seaside tourist destinations, including Digha, Mandarmani, Shankarpur and Bakkhali, will be no-tourist zones for the next two days as the state government has decided not to allow fresh bookings for Thursday and Friday in hotels at these locations in the wake of the forecast of Cyclone Dana.

All hoteliers have been asked to cancel all pre-bookings for the next two days, citing the cyclone.

As a severe cyclonic storm, Dana is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra in Odisha between Thursday night and Friday morning.

Although Dana will not make its landfall in Bengal, the state government has taken all precautions following reports that the coastal pockets of East Midnapore, North 24-Parganas, and South 24-Parganas could be affected.

"We have barred all tourists from visiting seaside locations.... All tourists currently at various hotels in Digha, Mandarmani and Shankarpur have been asked to vacate by Wednesday evening," said Purnendu Maji, the East Midnapore district magistrate.

There are around 1,200 hotels in these three seaside tourist destinations, mainly in Digha and Mandarmani. Some 55,000 tourists visit these places during weekdays and footfall touches to 1.2 lakh on weekends, as many from Calcutta visit the places.

Many tourists also visit Bakkhali and Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal in South 24-Parganas.

The East Midnapore administration put up bamboo barricades along the seaside on Wednesday to prevent tourists from entering the sea as the weather turned volatile on Wednesday morning.

The administration in East Midnapore and South 24-Parganas began campaigns at seaside tourist destinations, requesting tourists to vacate their hotels.

Partha Sarathi Biswas, a private company employee from Santiniketan, who had planned a three-day trip to Digha and Mandarmani from Thursday, had to reschedule his trip.

"The hotel owner informed me that my bookings have been cancelled following the administration’s instructions," said Biswas.

Sumit Gupta, the district magistrate of South 24-Parganas, said tourists who have reached destinations like Bakkhali and Sagar Island have been asked to stay inside their hotel rooms, and hotel owners have been instructed to ensure their safety.

"We are not allowing new bookings at hotels or homestays in seaside or riverine areas. We asked tourists already there not to leave hotel rooms...," said Gupta.

Ferry services in riverine areas of South 24-Parganas have been suspended starting Wednesday evening. The district administration shifted 65 pregnant women, who are nearing delivery dates, to Sagar Rural Hospital.

Bankim Hazra, the Sunderban affairs minister, said they had initially planned to relocate 65,000 people to around 80 shelters across seaside areas and the Sunderbans.

"We have already started moving people from vulnerable areas such as Ghoramara and Mousuni Island. The relocation process will be completed by Thursday afternoon, before the scheduled landfall of Dana," said Hazra.

In East Midnapore, the administration has readied 570 shelters, including schools and several government buildings, in order to relocate around 200,000 people from 170 villages.

The Hooghly administration is also worried about the possible impact of Cyclone Dana, particularly in the Khanakul I and II blocks, where embankments of many rivers were breached during recent September floods.

"We've done campaigns in Khanakul, advising residents of vulnerable areas, especially where embankments were breached, to move to safer locations," said a district official in Hooghly.