Authorities in India are evacuating nearly 1.5 million people from the path of an approaching cyclone in the eastern states of Odisha (formerly Orissa) and West Bengal, writes BBC.

Thousands of relief workers have been deployed to minimise damage from Cyclone Dana, which is expected to make landfall in the next 24 hours.

Transportation services have already been affected, with scores of trains and flights cancelled.

India"s weather department has said a depression over the Bay of Bengal is expected to turn into a severe cyclonic storm by Thursday evening.

The storm is expected to hit the coastal areas with wind speeds of 100-120 km/h.