Cyclone Tauktae: Mumbai Airport Resumes Operation After 11 Hrs; 55 Flights Cancelled, Trains Affected

Gusty winds and heavy showers lashed Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Monday as the very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae headed towards Gujarat, uprooting trees and disrupting local train services in the metropolis, according to officials.

Mumbai: Flight operations at Mumbai airport resumed on Monday night after being suspended for 11 hours due to the cyclone Tauktae. More than 55 flights, both incoming and outbound, were cancelled at the city’s till around 7.30 pm due to the closure. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport had announced suspension of all air services, initially for three hours from 11 am on Monday due to the cyclone. This was later extended eventually to 10 pm in different phases.

“Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has resumed operations with effect from 2200 hours of May 17,” the private airport operator said in a statement. The airport operator said it has registered the cancellations of 34 arrivals and 22 departures, adding that a few airlines have decided to cancel services to Mumbai. CSMIA, however, did not provide specific details.

Mumbai airport, which is the second busiest airport in the country, is reportedly operating around 250 flights in a day due to low passenger demand amid the deadly and more virulent second wave of the pandemic. Meanwhile, gusty winds and heavy showers lashed Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Monday as the very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae headed towards Gujarat, uprooting trees and disrupting local train services in the metropolis, according to officials.

Indigo, SpiceJet flights diverted

Further, three city-bound flights operated by budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet were diverted due to the closure of all services at the city airport in the morning. A city-bound IndiGo flight was diverted to Hyderabad and a SpiceJet flight to Surat, while one IndiGo flight was sent back to Lucknow, as per the airport.

Water-logging, tree fall affect CR services

Suburban train services between CSMT and Wadala on Central Railway’s Harbour line were suspended on Monday from 1:20pm due to water-logging on the tracks near Masjid station in the wake of cyclone Tauktae heading towards the coast of Gujarat, an official said.

CR chief public relations officer (CPRO) Shivaji Sutar said water-logging was observed on the Up (going towards CSMT) and Down (going towards Panvel) tracks at Masjid station after which services were suspended on the corridor from 1:20pm. He tweeted that trains on CR’s suburban mainline, trans-harbour, BSU (Uran) and Wadala-Panvel routes were operational.

A tree-fall was also reported on the overhead wire at Dombivali on the CSMT-Kalyan section in the afternoon though no train was passing through at the time, officials said. Earlier in the day, a tree fell on the overhead wire between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli stations, while services on the Harbour line were affected for a while after a vinyl banner fell on the overhead wire due to gusty winds, they added.

While close to eight million people use the suburban system of Central and Western Railways in Mumbai and its metropolitan region daily, the services currently are available only to those mandated by the Maharashtra government amid ‘break the chain’ restrictions in place for the COVID-19 outbreak.

(With inputs from PTI)