Cyclone Fani: Telecommunication networks partially disrupted

Villagers at the beach as dark clouds hover above the sea ahead of cyclone 'Fani', in Puri. Pic/AFP

Bhubaneswar (Odisha): Telecommunication networks have been reportedly partially disrupted in Puri and Bhubaneswar districts in Odisha due to cyclonic storm Fani making landfall on Friday morning. In addition to the 147 trains (scheduled from May 1 to May 3) cancelled earlier, East Coast Railway has cancelled 10 more trains.

Odisha and adjoining regions were battered by the extremely severe cyclonic storm which made landfall with a wind speed of around 245 kmph.

Helpline number - 1938 - has been made operational by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Indian Coast Guard has positioned 34 disaster relief teams at Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Paradip, Gopalpur, Haldia, Frazergunj and Kolkata besides four ships at Visakhapatnam and Chennai.

The system is likely to continue to move north-northeastwards, weaken gradually and emerge into Gangetic West Bengal as a "severe cyclonic storm" by the early morning of May 4. Thereafter, it is expected to move further north-northeastwards and emerge into Bangladesh on May 4 evening as a cyclonic storm.

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