Cyclone Fani is expected to hit Kolkata at 7 pm with the gusty wind velocity of 90-100 kmph. Fani is set to sting the city hard between Friday evening and Saturday night.
The Cyclone is raging over the Bay of Bengal and is heading for a landfall between Gopalpur and Chandbali on Friday morning.
Kolkata is already witnessing moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday morning, as the city is bracing for a severe storm.
Cylcone Fani has made a landfall in Puri on Odisha coast around 8 am today. This has triggered heavy rainfall coupled with very high velocity winds with a speed of 175 kmph. The area along Puri is also witnessing winds with a speed of 142 kmph and could reach up to 180 to 200 kmph.
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) watchdog has advised all flights to be cancelled to and from Kolkata today (May 3). All flights are cancelled at Kolkata airport from 3:00 pm of May 3 until 8 pm (tentative) on May 4 due to this cyclone.
Indian aviation regulator DGCA, in an advisory, said the flights are being “cancelled in advance in order to avoid passenger inconvenience and safety of operations”.
Moreover, 223 trains along the Odisha coastline in the Kolkata-Chennai route have also been cancelled as a precautionary step against Fani.
Many government and private schools have also declared holiday on Friday for the safety of the children.The
Mayor of Kolkata also directed advertisers on Thursday to take down all hoardings across the city as a preventive measure against injuries in case of dislodging by the force of strong winds.
As the city is covered under the dark clouds, people are praying for the safety of their loved ones.
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