NEW DELHI — Torrential rainfall and floods have battered south Indian states in the past two weeks because of the northeast monsoon. Numerous people and animals have been killed, trees uprooted, buildings collapsed in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Karnataka because of the incessant rainfall.
While the India Meteorological departments (IMD) has predicted more rainfall in Karnataka and Telangana this week as well, in other southern states the rainfall activity might recede from Sunday. "Decrease in rainfall activity over south peninsular India from Sunday for next 3-4 days," IMD weather said in a statement.
In Karnataka, the IMD has predicted widespread light to moderate rainfall over Bengaluru for the next two days till Tuesday. According to the weather monitoring agency, widespread rainfall would occur in rest of the Karnataka with isolated heavy rains likely over South Interior Karnataka (SIK), North Interior Karnataka (NIK), Malnad, and Coastal Karnataka regions on Sunday.
In Telangana, the IMD weather forecast aid there will be light to moderate rain or thundershowers is likely to occur at a few places of Telangana in the next 48 hours. There will be a cloudy sky for the next 24 hours. Surface winds are likely to be Easterlies/South-Easterlies with wind speeds around 10-15 kph.
In Andhra Pradesh, at least 25 people were killed and 17 others were reported missing in rain-related incidents in Kadapa and Anantapuramu districts. More than 30 people have washed away from three villages along the Cheyyeru river course, where water from the Annamayya medium irrigation project gushed in.
The situation in Tirupati town still remained grim, with many areas inundated. In Kadiri town in Anantapuramu district, a building under construction collapsed due to incessant rain and fell on an adjoining one, killing at least five persons, including two children.
The Andhra state has been hit by intense torrents since Thursday, sparking massive floods in at least five districts.
Earlier on Friday, at least a dozen people died as heavy floods washed away the bus they were on. Search and rescue efforts for missing passengers continued on Saturday.
Teams of the National Disaster Relief Force have been deployed to worst-hit and vulnerable districts, and local authorities have rescued and evacuated hundreds of families to shelter homes.
In Tamil Nadu, parts of the Villupuram and Cuddalore districts suffered inundation after the Thenpennai river was in spate. Around 18,500 hectares of farmlands were submerged in Villupuram due to the overflowing Thenpennai river. In the last 24 hours, three people have been killed in Krishnagiri and Tiruvannamalai districts, and 368 heads of cattle also perished.
In Kerala, though heavy rains lashed several parts of Pathanamthitta district, posing a threat to Sabarimala pilgrimage last night, devotees were permitted to trek the holy hills again in batches. District Collector Divya S. Iyer granted permission to allow the devotees stranded in Nilackal to trek to Sabarimala hills and offer prayers at the shrine in a phased manner.
The Puducherry union territory was pounded by heavy rains after a respite on Friday. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said the government was seeking interim relief from the Centre but did not elaborate on the quantum of reli
Rains in southern India at this time are not unusual, although the country has seen a prolonged monsoon this year with experts warning that climate change has exacerbated the problem by making downpours more intense and frequent. — Agencies
