India has begun evacuating millions of people along its eastern coast ahead of a super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, BBC News reports. 

The storm is expected to make landfall on Wednesday and hit West Bengal and Orissa (Odisha) states.

More than 20 relief teams have already been deployed, and several more are on standby, officials say.

The cyclone as tens of thousands of migrant workers flee cities for their villages during India's lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

West Bengal and Orissa are among the states that are seeing a larger number of them return.

Orissa has now cancelled trains which were due to arrive between 18 and 20 May with thousands of migrants.

And some district officials have barred entry into their areas and requested the state government to accommodate the migrants - many of whom are walking home - elsewhere until the storm passes.

The evacuation is expected to continue into tomorrow morning.

State officials are also struggling to find shelters for evacuees. In Orissa, for instance, 250 of the more than 800 existing shelters are being used as quarantine centres.

News.Az