Fani alert: Flight, rail services disrupted along east coast

NEW DELHI: Rail and flight services in Odisha is likely to remain acutely disrupted over the next two days as cyclone Fani, the most severe cyclonic storm over the east coast in nearly two decades, is due to make landfall on Friday morning, railway and aviation ministry officials said. More than 220 trains on the Kolkata-Chennai route have been cancelled until Saturday. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced that flights in and out of Bhubaneswar airport stand cancelled on Friday.

Consequently, the operations of various domestic airlines have been affected.

Other states on the east coast — West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu — are also expected to be affected by the cyclone. Fani was packing maximum winds of up to 150 kmph as it lay centred over west-central Bay of Bengal, about 320 km south-southwest of the temple town of Puri in Odisha, according to latest reports.


In an advisory on Thursday evening, the DGCA said no flight will depart or arrive at the Kolkata airport between 9.30 pm on Friday and 6 pm on Saturday.

It added that the “resumption of flights” at Bhubaneswar airport and Kolkata airport “will be with positive clearance from respective air-traffic control”.

“Airports Authority of India issued alert to all coastal airports to ensure all precautions, SOPs put in place immediately,” Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu tweeted.

The trains which have been cancelled include 140 mail/express trains and 83 passenger trains.

Railways has pressed into service three special trains to move people to safer places.

A railway official said nine trains have been diverted and four have been short-terminated.

“All trains cancelled in Bhadrak-Vizianagaram section (along Odisha coastline) of Kolkata-Chennai route till May 4 afternoon in view of cyclone Fani,” he said.