[caption id="attachment_247346" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
A fish vendor struggles to hold onto his umbrella against the fast blowing wind, on the banks of Brahmaputra river, in Guwahati.. (PTI)[/caption]
Guwahati, May 4 (IANS): A total of 79 flights were cancelled at different airports in the northeast region due to bad weather, triggered by cyclonic storm Fani, an Airport Authority of India official said here on Saturday.
"The devastating effects of cyclone Fani has disrupted flight operations at northeastern regional airports. However, all the airports in NER are operational but due to bad weather conditions at other stations/airports, the connecting flights have been cancelled by the airlines. All the airports in NER are open for normal operations," AAI official Mohan Kumar1 said.
He said that a total of 59 flights had been cancelled at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here including inbound and out-bound flights of Indigo, Spice Jet, Air India, Alliance Air and GoAir.
Eight flights were cancelled at Maharaja Bir Birbikram Manikya Airport at Agartala which includes an Indigo airlines flight, two flights each were cancelled at Assam's Lilabari and Dibrugarh airports and two at Dimapur in Nagaland.
Another six flights were cancelled at Imphal airport, he said.
Most parts of Assam witnessed incessant rains on Saturday due to the impact of cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades.
Following the rains, the state government has issued an alert to suspend ferry services between Jorhat and Majuli, Guwahati and North Guwahati, Dhubri and other places from Saturday to Sunday.
Weather experts at the Regional Meteorological Centre at Borjhar had warned of heavy rains accompanied by strong winds to lash the northeastern states on Saturday and Sunday too.
The Assam government had earlier warned the district administrations to remain alert ahead of Fani and deployed 40 companies of National Disaster Rescue Force at some vulnerable locations across the state.
As of Saturday, Fani has weakened into a "cyclonic storm leaving no more major threat" for West Bengal. It is situated at Shantipur in Nadia district, about 60 km north of Kolkata, and is likely to enter Bangaldesh around Saturday noon.
The cyclone made landfall in Odisha on Friday morning.
IAF keeps 11 choppers, 4 aircraft on standby
In view of cyclone "Fani", the Indian Air Force (IAF) has kept on standby 11 helicopters and four An-32 aircraft in different locations for relief and rescue operations, an official release said on Friday.
According to an official (Defence) release, Eastern Air Command Headquarters (in Shillong) has sized up the situation in conjunction with Air Force headquarters and kept on standby six light helicopters with winch for rescue work and five medium lift helicopters for deploying the relief material.
"The IAF has also kept ready four An-32 aircraft with medical relief teams for ferrying relief material, medical help and NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) teams with equipment," the release said.
The helicopters have been kept ready at Bagdogra, Purnea and Kumbhigram (near Silchar in southern Assam) for quick deployment in Odisha, West Bangal and different northeastern states.
Most parts of Assam witnessed incessant rains on Saturday due to the impact of cyclone Fani, one of the strongest storms to batter the Indian subcontinent in decades.
Following the rains, the state government has issued an alert to suspend ferry services between Jorhat and Majuli, Guwahati and North Guwahati, Dhubri and other places from Saturday to Sunday.
While flight services from Guwahati has been suspended till Saturday evening, the Northeast Frontier Railway has also cancelled several trains to Kolkata and Odisha. Similarly, trains from Kolkata and Odisha to Assam were also cancelled.
Weather experts at the Regional Meteorological Centre at Borjhar had warned of heavy rains accompanied by strong winds to lash the northeastern states on Saturday and Sunday.
Assam government had earlier warned the district administrations to remain alert ahead of Fani and deployed 40 companies of National Disaster Rescue Force at some vulnerable locations across the state.
In Tripura, at least six houses were fully damaged and around 140 houses partly damaged in three of the eight districts - Khowai, Gomati, Sepahijala. A school structure was partially damaged in Amarpur in Gomati district when a tree fall on it," said an official of the Tripura Disaster Control Centre.
He said a many trees and electric poles were uprooted in different parts of the state disrupting vehicular movement and electricity supply.
"Works are on to restore the normal movement of vehicles and electricity supply," the official added.
On behalf of the state government, Revenue Department's Additional Secretary L. T. Darlong had earlier asked all the eight District Magistrates and Collector to remain alert to deal with the situation in view of Fani.
Meanwhile, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director Dilip Saha, Fani has hugely weakened and turned into a "depression" only on Saturday evening and exists in neighbouring Bangladesh.
"Fani is expected to enter Assam and other northeastern states on Sunday causing medium to heavy rains," Saha told IANS adding that there was no major threat from the weakened cyclone.
The met office here recorded 75.5 mm rainfall during the past 24 hours.
The cyclonic storm made landfall in Odisha on Friday morning, then it moved to West Bengal on Friday mid-night before entering Bangladesh on Saturday.
