Cyclone Nisarga: Mumbai airport bars all take-offs, landings till 7 pm

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has barred any take-off or landings till 7 pm Wednesday due to Cyclone Nisarga. A public relations officer told ANI that the airport witnessed a runway excursion earlier in the day with Fed Ex flight 5033 arriving from Bengaluru. The aircraft was towed away from the runway and there has been no disruption in flight operations.

Mumbai airport had on Tuesday said that will handle only 19 flights on June 3 instead of about 50 that it manages every day, as a preventive measure against cyclone Nisarga. The flights were to be operated by AirAsia India, Air India, IndiGo, GoAir, and SpiceJet.

Civil aviation regulator DGCA has issued a circular to airlines and pilots reiterating its guidelines on adverse weather operations. Likewise, preventive checks at different airport functions have been carried out and water pumps have been positioned across the airport to clear water in case of waterlogging.

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Landfall process started

According to the India Meteorological Department, the landfall process of Cyclone Nisarga has begun after hitting Alibaug and will continue for three hours. The IMD further informed that the centre (eye) of the severe Cyclone Nisarga is very close to Maharashtra coast and the northeast sector of the eye of the severe cyclonic storm is entering into the land.

The right side of the wall cloud region passed through coastal Maharashtra covering the Raigad district. It will gradually enter into Mumbai and Thane district during the next 3 hours, IMD said. It also shared satellite images of the wall cloud moving across the sky across Maharashtra.

A wall cloud is a large and lowered cloud that often leads to tornadoes and cyclones.

(PTI Photo)

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