Cyclone Dana to bring heavy rainfall in parts of Jharkhand, NDRF teams deployed, schools closed KOLKATA — Heavy rains and gusty winds battered southern West Bengal on Thursday as the state administration evacuated over 2.5 lakh people to safety in anticipation of the impending severe cyclonic storm ‘Dana,’ which is set to make landfall in Odisha after midnight. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the cyclone is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port late Thursday night or early Friday morning. At 4.30 pm, the storm was located 150 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha) and 250 km south-southeast of West Bengal’s Sagar Island. Also read: Dana intensifies into severe cyclonic storm, to hit Odisha coast between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra In anticipation of the cyclone, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state had identified more than 3.5 lakh people for evacuation from low-lying areas. 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, adding that she would remain at the state secretariat overnight to monitor the situation. Chief secretary Manoj Pant and home secretary Nandini Chakraborty...