Chaos at Mumbai airport as cyclone Biparjoy briefly hits flight operations

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

Mumbai, June 12, 2023: Flight operations in Mumbai were affected last evening due to inclement weather conditions, with cyclone Biparjoy gushing over the Arabian Sea.

Heavy rain and gusty winds pounded Mumbai as the intensity of cyclone Biparjoy, which has intensified into "extremely severe cyclonic storm", increased.

 

Mumbai airport witnessed scenes of anxiety and chaos as hundreds of passengers waited for their flights for hours. Several flights were cancelled or delayed owing to the weather conditions, while some were forced to abort the landing.

Some passengers took to Twitter to complain about the inconvenience.

Air India late last evening put out a statement saying some of its flights running from Mumbai will be delayed due to bad weather and temporary closure of the runway.

"Inclement weather conditions and the temporary closure of Runway 09/27 at the Mumbai airport, in addition to other consequential factors beyond our control have resulted in delays and cancellation of some of our flights. We regret the inconvenience caused to our guests, as we make all effort to minimise the disruptionsm" Air India tweeted.

"The agony as flight delays are equally troublesome for us. It is only under extremely uncontrollable situations we’re compelled to make such changes in the schedule. We look forward to your kind understanding,"  Indigo tweeted responding to a passenger.

The weather office has issued a ’thunderstorm’ alert for some districts in coastal Maharashtra.

"Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and light to moderate spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Ratnagiri, Raigad, Thane, Palghar and Kolhapur during next 3-4 hours. Take precautions while moving out," said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall on Gujarat and Pakistan coasts on Thursday.

Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Gir Somnath, Porbandar, and Devbhumi Dwarka districts are likely to be impacted by the cyclone with heavy rainfall and very high wind speed during June 13-15 which may go up to 150 kmph, officials said.

The IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into the seas off the coast of Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep.

"The state governments are advised to keep a close watch, monitor the situation in their areas regularly and take appropriate precautionary measures. District authorities are advised accordingly," the IMD said.

The Pakistan government has also advised authorities in Sindh and Balochistan to remain alert. Rain accompanied by thunder is expected on the coasts of Sindh and Makran from the night of June 13, said Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).