Ranchi Flights Disrupted by Bad Weather: IndiGo Returns to Kolkata, Air India Express Diverted

Ranchi: Inclement weather disrupted flight operations on Wednesday, with a Ranchi-bound IndiGo flight returning to Kolkata and an Air India Express flight bound for Varanasi being diverted to Ranchi.

A Ranchi-bound IndiGo flight from Kolkata was forced to turn back due to adverse weather. At the same time, a Varanasi-bound Air India Express flight from Delhi was diverted to Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport.

City airport director Vinod Kumar told TOI that the IndiGo flight, scheduled to arrive in Ranchi at 2:56 pm, could not land due to bad weather. “The IndiGo aircraft, 6E 7317, had 68 passengers on board. The Varanasi-bound Air India Express flight was also diverted to Ranchi due to bad weather. The flight had 170 passengers on board,” he said.

The diversions occurred on a day where several parts of the state received rainfall. Bokaro received 32.4 mm of rainfall, and Khunti recorded 34.5 mm, the highest in the state. Ranchi and Jamshedpur recorded 2 mm of rainfall each, while Daltonganj received 0.2 mm.

Despite the rain, temperatures remained high. Ranchi recorded a maximum temperature of 38.6°C, Jamshedpur 37.5°C, Bokaro 36°C, while Daltonganj recorded the highest of 42.7°C.

The IMD said in its bulletin that maximum temperatures across the state are likely to fall by 2-3°C till Saturday.

It also issued a yellow alert of thunderstorm and gusty winds for Thursday in eastern and central of the state, including West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Ranchi, Ramgarh, Hazaribag, Koderma, Giridih, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Jamtara, Deoghar, Dumka, Pakur, Godda and Sahibganj districts.