Cyclone Sitrang: Several flights from Silchar & other airports of NE cancelled

way2barak, Oct.25: Cyclone Sitrang has been playing a spoilsport during the ongoing Kali Puja and Diwali festival. The IMD on Tuesday said the remnant of the cyclonic storm “Sitrang” which created a deep depression over Bangladesh has further weakened into a depression over northeast Bangladesh, north-northeast of Agartala and south- southwest of Shillong.

Under the influence of Cyclone Sitrang, a red alert indicating heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall has been issued for Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. As a result, many Northeast-bound flights and trains have been cancelled today fearing the threat of cyclone Sitrang.

On Tuesday morning (9.30 AM), the Silchar Airport Authority informed that Air India Flight 754 scheduled to depart for Kolkata in the morning was delayed. Also, 3 flights were cancelled. Those flights which were cancelled are SpiceJet 4039 bound for Kolkata, IndiGo 7957 bound for Shillong and IndiGo 7144 bound for Kolkata. However, IndiGo 2516 bound for Kolkata at 1.45 PM was declared to be on time. SpiceJet 8169 bound for Guwahati at 2.35 PM was announced to be scheduled.

 Moreover, Three flights connecting Agartala with Kolkata and two flights connecting Agartala with Shillong and Aizawl, respectively, were cancelled. Three flights from Imphal to Shillong, Delhi and Agartala were also cancelled. Two flights connecting Kolkata- Imphal- Dibrugarh and Dibrugarh-Imphal-Kolkata were also cancelled. Several other flights from Lengpui Airport also remained cancelled. Two intra-state trains – the Agartala- Sabroom-Agartala and the Agartala- Dharmanagar-Agartala have been cancelled.