Heavy rains lash south India

NDTV.com: "Heavy monsoon showers have disrupted normal life in south India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the rains are expected to continue. A cyclonic pressure over south Bay of Bengal is causing the heavy rains. Officials in 11 districts of Tamil Nadu are already on an alert against flooding. Various parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh are also likely to receive heavy showers.

Chief Minister YSR Reddy today called a special meeting to discuss the flooding of the Vizag airport, which has remained closed since October 15 and is not expected to resume functioning for another three days. Karnataka has been badly hit as well, and three people have lost their lives due to the heavy rains. Water levels have risen above the danger level in the Mettur reservoir, and the state is gearing up for a heavy agricultural loss.

Bangalore is experiencing its wettest October in 49 years, breaking a 1956 record. The city had received 52.5 cm of rain till this afternoon, a new record for October. Authorities have closed the schools, and the Bangalore Police have appealed to people to leave work early because of the heavy rain.

The city's BPO services have also been severely affected as the telephone lines have been disrupted. Many roads are waterlogged, and around 20 houses have collapsed. This has raised a question mark over the viability of a large IT convention that is scheduled to begin in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Parts of National Highway Seven from Bangalore to Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu have collapsed after the deluge, and several trains have been cancelled or diverted. However, the rains seem to be easing up in West Bengal and other parts of east India."