Following warning of severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ over Southeast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moving northwestwards with a speed of about 22 kmph in the last six hours, the Railway authority has cancelled total 81 trains across India including 3 trains connecting Assam and Northeast.
The Railway authority has also decided to divert total two trains including one Assam-bound train.
The trains, connecting Assam and Northeast, which have been cancelled by the Railway authority are 12508 Silchar-Thiruvanantapuram Aronai Express scheduled to leave Silchar on Wednesday (May 1, 2019).
Also read: Northeast awaits heavy spells of rain with violent lightning and hailstorm
The 12514 Guwahati-Secunderabad Express schedule to leave Guwahati on May 2, 2019 and the 15929 Tambaram-Dibrugarh Express scheduled to leave Tambaram for Assam’s Dibrugarh on May 2, 2019 have been cancelled fearing mishap due to cyclonic storm ‘Fani’.
Meanwhile another train 12509 Bangalore-Guwahati Express, which is scheduled to leave from Bangalore on May 2, 2019, will be diverted via Vizianagaramtitilagarh-Jharsuguda, stated a Railway press communiqué.
As per the latest weather bulletin, the cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ lay centred at 11:30 am on April 30, 2019 over Southwest Bay & adjoining Southeast of Bengal near latitude 12.6°N and longitude 85.7°E, about 800 km south of Puri (Odisha) and 620 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and about 660 km north-northeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka).
“It is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm during next 12 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards till May 1 evening and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, to the south of Puri around May 3 afternoon with maximum sustained wind of speed 175-185 kmph gusting to 205 kmph,” the bulletin said.
As per the India Meteorological Department’s weather forecast, on May 4 (Saturday), heavy rains will hit North Odisha, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya.