Over 30 trains, multiple flights cancelled as Cyclone Montha nears Andhra coast

Cyclone Montha, which formed over the Bay of Bengal, intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday morning and is expected to make landfall near the Andhra Pradesh coast by tonight. The storm has already disrupted air and rail traffic across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, prompting large-scale precautionary measures from the authorities.

According to the Meteorological Department, Montha has brought heavy rains and strong winds to several coastal regions, including eight districts of southern Odisha — Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Kandhamal. The Odisha government has begun evacuating people from low-lying and landslide-prone areas to safer locations as part of its preparedness plan.

In view of worsening weather conditions, 32 trains passing through Visakhapatnam have been cancelled. The East Coast Railway has also diverted the Tatanagar–Ernakulam Express and short-terminated the Bhubaneswar–Jagdalpur and Rourkela–Jagdalpur Expresses. Similarly, flight operations have been severely affected, with all flights from Visakhapatnam Airport suspended and 30 flights cancelled at Gannavaram Airport in Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 22 teams across the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry, with 20 additional teams on standby. Each team is equipped with boats, cutting tools and communication equipment to assist in evacuation and rescue efforts as Cyclone Montha approaches landfall.