Image
Commercial flights not to resume at Chennai airport today, rain continues
Chennai, Dec 5 (IBNS) Contrary to expectations, commercial flight operations in Chennai may take two more days to resume,, Minister of State for Aviation Mahesh Sharma has said.
Earlier, it was expected that flight operations would resume partially at the airport on Saturday.
Sharma said commercial flight services cannot be resumed at the airport as of now.
"The airport's basement is still inundated with water. We should give it two days. Once power supply is restored and water evacuation happens, we can restart commercial flight services," he said.
Seven flights were operated by Air India and some private airlines on Friday from the Rajali Naval air station in Arakkonam near Chennai to fly out stranded people. Operations at the Chennai airport were shut after a flooded runway forced the cancellation of all flights on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, train services will remain suspended till Saturday, officials have said. The Home Secretary will chair a meeting with top officials from the NDRF and the Railway, Power and Telecom ministries in Delhi to discuss the situation.
Many areas of the city are still waterlogged. Relief effort by the Army, national and state disaster response forces are still continuing.
It has been raining intermittently since Friday night. The Met department has predicted "light to moderate" rainfall till Sunday.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh had, on Thursday, said that there had been 269 deaths in Tamil Nadu since the heavy rain and flooding began last month. More than 10,000 people have been rescued so far by the Army and the National Disaster Response Force.
Schools, colleges and offices in Chennai have been forced to close and exams have been postponed. Telecom companies have offered free talk-time to their customers. Mobile phone services have been partially restored.
Top Headlines
-
News
This Union budget is about building capacity, not chasing short-term consumption
February 02, 2026
-
News
AI will replace surgeons, coders and billions of jobs, warns Sraddhalu Ranade at MCHD-SKC Memorial Lecture
February 01, 2026
-
News
Sheikh Hasina attacks Muhammad Yunus from first public address in Delhi, urges uprising in Bangladesh
January 23, 2026
-
News
Top Maoist leader with 2 crore bounty among 16 eliminated in major Jharkhand encounter
January 23, 2026
-
News
Russia, US, Ukraine to hold first trilateral talks in UAE, Zelensky announces
January 22, 2026
-
News
Supreme Court slams Maneka Gandhi over remarks on stray dogs case, flags possible contempt
January 20, 2026
-
News
'India-EU trade deal nears finish line': European Commission Prez at Davos, calls it mother of all deals
January 20, 2026
-
News
Nitin Nabin becomes BJPs youngest president ahead of key assembly polls, PM Modi calls him my boss
January 20, 2026
-
News
PM Modi calls Nitin Nabin my boss as he takes over BJP leadership
January 20, 2026
-
News
David Beckhams son drops bombshell, accuses parents of trying to ruin his marriage
January 20, 2026
