Cylcone Dana: Attention Flyers! Kolkata international airport to suspend flight operations from Thursday 6 pm

The international airport in Kolkata will close flight operations for more than a day as Cyclone Dana approaches the West Bengal coast. Officials said the suspension would come into effect from 6:00 pm on October 24.

“In view of Cyclone Dana's impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, it has been decided to suspend the flight operations from 6 pm on October 24 to 9 am on October 25 due to predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall at Kolkata,” said a spokesperson from the Airports Authority of India.

The storm is expected to make landfall with a maximum speed of 120 kmph between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra port in the neighbouring state of Odisha early on Friday.

Commuter woes are also set to mount with hundreds of train cancellations amid the storm. Officials announced on Wednesday evening that Eastern Railway will not operate 190 local trains in its Sealdah division from 8 pm on Thursday till 10 am on Friday in view of the cyclonic storm. As many as 14 long-distance trains passing through the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone have also been cancelled.

Heavy rainfall is expected across West Bengal and Odisha over the next few days — with Kolkata and surrounding areas likely to experience ‘heavy to very heavy rain’.

According to the latest IMD bulletin the cyclonic storm lay centered about 490 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha), 520 km south-southeast of Dhamara (Odisha) and 570 km southsoutheast of Sagar Island (West Bengal) at 11:30 am.

Dana is expected to become a 'severe cyclonic storm' very late on Wednesday (or early on Thursday) before crossing north Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island (close to Bhitarkanika and Dhamara in Odisha) overnight.

(With inputs from agencies)