Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju on Wednesday ruled out resumption of air services to Chennai till tomorrow morning amid incessant rains in Tamil Nadu, which has wreaked havoc in the state.
"It is raining heavily there and we expect more rains. There is no question of (air) traffic till tomorrow morning at least. There are lots of people stranded at the airport. The chairman of the airport authority is also developing a plan as to how to make essential materials like food and water available to them," Raju told the media here.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma on his part said that the government is making arrangements to provide food and water to the passengers stranded at the Chennai airport.
"The Chennai airport is water logged; all the flights have been cancelled till 6 am. Around 700 passengers are stranded there, we are making arrangements to provide food and water to them as it is not possible to evacuate them," Sharma said.
IMD Director General L S Rathore earlier said that although the intensity of rain will lessen after 72 hours, it will continue to pour for about a week.
Many parts of Chennai and the suburbs have been flooded from the incessant rains that have hit the city in the past 24 hours, amidst the worst ever flood situation in Tamil Nadu.
The water has entered inside houses in the low-lying areas of Anna Nagar and there is water-logging in almost every part of the city.
The flight operations at the Chennai Airport have been closed for the whole day because of the flooded water on the runway.