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Chennai Flood: Over 1,000 Passengers Rescued From Airport

Chennai Flood: Over 1,000 Passengers Rescued From Airport
Indian residents carry children as they walk through floodwaters in Chennai on December 3, 2015. Thousands of rescuers raced to evacuate residents from deadly flooding, as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the southern state of Tamil Nadu to survey the devastation. More than 40,000 people have been rescued in recent days after record rains lashed the coastal state, worsening weeks of flooding that has killed 269 people AFP PHOTO/STR / AFP / STRDEL (Photo credit should read STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
STRDEL via Getty Images
Indian residents carry children as they walk through floodwaters in Chennai on December 3, 2015. Thousands of rescuers raced to evacuate residents from deadly flooding, as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the southern state of Tamil Nadu to survey the devastation. More than 40,000 people have been rescued in recent days after record rains lashed the coastal state, worsening weeks of flooding that has killed 269 people AFP PHOTO/STR / AFP / STRDEL (Photo credit should read STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

ARAKKONAM/NEW DELHI -- Evacuation operations are on at the Chennai airport, with over a thousand stranded passengers rescued on Thursday.

"The remaining 150 passengers will be rescued by Friday morning. Some of the evacuated passengers have been sent by road to Bangalore while some others have been flown out from the nearby Rajali Naval Air base at Arakkonam," Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma said in a press conference in New Delhi this evening.

The Minister also informed that it has been decided to start limited commercial flight operations from Rajali Naval Air base from tomorrow.

"Air India and some private airlines have agreed to operate 6 flights from Arakkonam tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Rs. 1000/ as fare will be charged for travelling to southern states and Rs. 2000/ will be charged for northern states," Sharma added.

"Manual ticketing for the flights will be done at the Rajali Naval Air base. Passengers can carry only hand baggage in these flights, check-in baggage will not be allowed. Railways will operate shuttle services from Chennai Beach station to Arakkonam," he said.

The minister also said that the flight details of these limited sorties will be available on DGCA website.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.