Phailin affects train services the most

Many trains running along the coastal regions of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh remained cancelled for the second day while some were delayed and some diverted, in view of cyclone Phailin which lashed the Odisha coast on Saturday.

Railways and Paradip Port officials declined to comment on the financial impact of the disaster as they were focused on resuming operations. Also, damages have been minimised due to precautionary measures, they said.

Some trains in the east coast region resumed partially by Sunday evening. Services were hit after the Bhubaneswar-headquartered East Coast Railway cancelled all trains in advance on Saturday and Sunday as a precautionary measure.

Other adjoining railway zones such as Kolkata-headquartered South Eastern Railway and Secunderabad-headquartered South Central Railway too cancelled some trains.

Train tracks were damaged in several sections in Odisha. Widespread power failure affected supply, which prevented the Railways from running trains on some sections such as Khurda Road and Palasa, near Andhra Pradesh border, according to the East Coast Railway spokesperson.

Flight services to Bhubaneswar and Patna were disrupted, though the Airports Authority of India said that their airports were operational. The Jet Airways Web site said due to the cyclonethose travelling to and from Bhubaneswar, Patna and Ranchi may encounter flight disruptions.

Vessel operations at Paradip and Dhamra ports continued to be suspended.

Paradip Port, which had suspended vessel operations from Friday as the storm approached, has restarted train operations in the port by Sunday evening, Paradip Port Chairman Sudhanshu Shekhar Mishra told Business Line .

“Roads were damaged and trees running into many thousands have fallen, which are being cleared off roads. We will take a call on resumption of vessel services by tomorrow evening after the harbour survey,” Mishra said, adding that the port had arranged cooked food, medicine and shelter for those hit by cyclone.

“Dhamra Port will start operations in about two-three days. There is not much damage, though usual cleaning and dewatering needs to be done. Also, many workers have gone away due to the cyclone and also due to festive celebrations,” Santosh Mohapatra, CEO, Dhamra Port, said.

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