The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of a sustained spell of heavy rain, thunderstorms and gusts of up to 70 km/h across large swathes of the Northeast, East and parts of South India between 3 and 8 May. The agency’s “orange” alert covers Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal and Sikkim, with flood-prone hill districts expected to see multiple days of very heavy precipitation. Transport operators are bracing for knock-on delays. Airlines serving Guwahati, Bagdogra, Dibrugarh and Silchar have begun waiving re-booking fees, while Indian Railways has cautioned that landslides and water-logging could trigger short-notice diversions on the New Jalpaiguri–Guwahati corridor—an important freight artery for tea exporters. Highway authorities have advised night-time closures on sections of NH-37 and NH-6 where rockfalls are common. Business-travel hubs further south will not be spared: Kerala and Tamil Nadu are forecast to receive intense rainfall until 8 May, potentially disrupting Kochi and Chennai airports that have limited rapid-drainage capacity. Marine warnings are also in effect for the Bay of Bengal, restricting coastal cargo movements and offshore crew changes. Companies with assignees in affected states should activate weather-monitoring protocols, confirm emergency contact trees and encourage travellers to book refundable fares. Mobility managers may also need to adjust on-the-ground evacuation thresholds, as hill-station retreats popular with expatriates—such as Shillong and Darjeeling—face heightened landslide risk at the start of the tourist season. The IMD says the system is linked to a combination of a cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh and an east-west trough extending across peninsular India. While no cyclone formation is expected, convective instability will remain high, sustaining multiple rounds of storms through the week.
Source: The Times of India
