At least four flights from Ranchi had to be cancelled on Friday as severe cyclonic storm Fani made its impact felt in parts of Eastern India including Jharkhand. At the time of filing of this report, MET officials said that the cyclone is expected to hit Jharkhand’s southeast corner at 11.30 pm on Friday and gradually deviate towards West Bengal.
While the weather remained windy and overcast along with low to moderate rainfall in most parts of the state on Friday, no major loss or casualty were reported, said weathermen.
“The cyclone will hit northeastern part of Jharkhand at around 11.30 pm at a wind speed of around 50 to 60 kilometers per hour. The impact will be felt in different parts of the state, especially in East Singbhum, Saraikela Kharsawan and West Singbhum,” said SD Kotal, Director, Ranchi Meteorological Centre.
The impact of the cyclone will be felt from 11.30pm on Friday to 5.30am on Saturday in different parts of Jharkhand, Kotal said on Friday evening. The wind speed of 50 kilometers per hour may uproot trees and cause damage to property, so it was important to stay prepared, he added.
The Ranchi District Administration on Friday issued strict guidelines to ensure preparedness of various departments for combating the impact of Fani. The Administration on Friday also issued an emergency number, 0651-2214182, for the residents of Ranchi. An emergency control room will be active for at least 24 hours in all the 24 districts of the state to immediately address any problems caused by the cyclone. Besides, the Disaster Management Department issued a separate emergency number, 0651-2446923, for residents across Jharkhand on Friday.
“Two Air India flights, one to Kolkata and one to Bhubaneswar, were cancelled. Besides, an Indigo flight and an AirAsia flight, both to Kolkata, did not fly today (Friday). The flights had to be cancelled as Bhubaneswar and Kolkata airports were closed due to the cyclone,” said an official from the Birsa Munda Airport, not authorized to talk to the media.
Apart from impacting air passengers, the cyclone also affected domestic bus services in Jharkhand, sources said. However, railways remained mostly unaffected.
Schools remained closed in East Singbhum, Ranchi and Dumka on Friday. As a precautionary measure, the respective district administrations have also decided to keep schools closed on Saturday.
Although the cyclone did not enter Jharkhand before sunset, parts of the state remained overcast since the wee hours of Friday. Parts of Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamtara and Dumka witnessed rains with wind speed of 30 to 40 kilometers per hour, while parts of East Singbhum, West Singbhum, Saraikela Kharsawan and Khunti witnessed a greater wind speed of 50 to 60 kilometers per hour in the night, said weathermen from Ranchi MET department.
The cyclone brought relief from the soaring temperature in Ranchi and Jamshedpur. The two cities, which were recording an average highest temperature of 35 degrees Celsius in the past one week, witnessed a fall in the mercury level by nearly 10 degrees Celsius on Friday. Ranchi recorded highest temperature of 26.7 degrees Celsius while Jamshedpur recorded a highest temperature of 27.2 degrees Celsius on Friday. Ranchi received 2.0mm rainfall while Jamshedpur received 25.4mm rainfall on Friday, Ranchi MET department said.
