Due to heavy rains and winds induced by Cyclone Michaung, around 33 Chennai-bound flights were diverted to Bengaluru's Kempegowda Airport between 0001 to 2350 hours (12.01 am to 11.59 pm). Heavy rains continued to pound Tamil Nadu capital and nearby districts of the neighbouring state under the impact of a cyclonic storm. According to officials of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) that operates KIA, both domestic as well as international flights including that of Indigo, SpiceJet, Etihad, Lufthansa and Gulf Air were diverted to the city from Chennai, where many flights have also been cancelled.
The Chennai airport has been closed for arrival and departure operations till 11 pm on Monday due to severe weather conditions. As many as 70 flights arriving to and departing from the airport were cancelled owing to non-stop rains. Several flights have been diverted from Chennai to KIA. Chennai airport has also announced that they would remain closed for arrival operations for a specific period. Not just Chennai, even Tirupati, Visakhapatnam all these regions have issues due to weather conditions. So, there are several delays and cancellations as well. We advise passengers to check the status of their respective flights and so far, 33 flights diverted from Chennai have landed at KIA here, a BIAL official said.
Train operations also affected
The rains due to Cyclone Michaung, which is moving at the speed of 14 kmph in a north-northwest direction over the Southwest Bay of Bengal, have been battering Chennai for the past few hours. It is likely to cross the coast in Andhra Pradesh on December 5.
Cyclonic storm "MICHAUNG lay centered over Southwest Bay of Bengal about 210km east-northeast of Puducherry, 150km east-southeast of Chennai at 2330 hrs 3 Dec. Likely to move north-northwestwards, intensify & cross b/w Nellore and Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh) during the forenoon of 5 Dec as a Severe CS," an update from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Rail and air services suffered cancellations and delays.
"As water is flowing above danger level, the bridge no.14 between Basin bridge and Vyasarpadi has been suspended on account of safety reasons," and six trains originating from the Dr.MGR Chennai Central to destinations including Coimbatore and Mysuru were cancelled on Monday morning, the Southern Railway said, adding full refund shall be granted to all passengers of the above trains. As many as 14 subways in the city have been closed due to inundation, the city police said.
