Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], October 28 (ANI): The Indian Railways has announced cancellation of 32 trains passing through Visakhapatnam, citing passenger safety due to the Montha cyclone, expected to make landfall on the coast of Kakinada on Tuesday night.

Deepak Rout, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) at East Coast Railway, said that local memos and other trains scheduled to depart on Tuesday have been cancelled. He stated that the list of all cancelled trains will be uploaded on the social media pages of Indian Railways.

'For the Montha cyclone, which is expected to touch Kakinada, we have taken a lot of precautions regarding that. We have cancelled 32 trains passing through Visakhapatnam so that travellers are not affected much. We are trying our best to run the train up to 4 p.m. tomorrow; the local memos and other trains scheduled to depart around tomorrow have been cancelled. The list of cancelled trains has been uploaded to social media and our digital platforms,' Deepak Rout told ANI.

He informed that the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express has been diverted, and two trains, including the Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur Express and the Rourkela-Jagdalpur Express, have been short-terminated.

'Regarding diversion, the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express has been diverted, and two trains have been short-terminated, like the Bhubaneswar-Jagadalpur Express and the Rourkela-Jagdalpur Express, which is an intercity express,' Rout said. Meanwhile, several coastal districts in the State and southern Odisha, towards where the cyclone Montha will move after the landfall, received heavy rain this morning.

Odisha's Ganjam district witnessed rough seas, strong winds, and rainfall, while rain lashed Andhra Pradesh's Vijayawada due to the cyclone's impact.

The Cyclonic Storm Montha over the west-central Bay of Bengal has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and is expected to make landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada, during the evening or night of Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. (ANI)