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Wednesday, Jul 16, 2008
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Widespread rain in south Kerala

P. Venugopal

Catchment areas of Idukki reservoir yet to come under monsoon spell

Southern districts likely to receive heavy rain
Upper air circulation off the Kanyakumari coast

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The monsoon came out of its hiding over south Kerala to present the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha with widespread rain since Tuesday afternoon.

South Kerala, which has seen very deficient rainfall so far this season, is likely to receive heavy rain during the next two days under the influence of an upper level trough off the Kanyakumari coast, according to M.D. Ramachandran, director of the Meteorology Centre here.

Several areas in Ernakulam and Idukki districts too started receiving good rainfall by afternoon.

Till evening, however, the catchment areas of the reservoir of Idukki hydro-electric station were yet to come under the influence of this change in weather conditions. The sky over this region too was heavy with the promise of rain, according to reports from Idukki.

Meteorologists came to notice the beginning of an upper air circulation off the Kanyakumari coast on Monday evening. This circulation, which was confined to the layer 2 km-to-3 km above the sea level initially, spread to encompass the layer reaching from 1 km to 3 km above the sea level by Tuesday morning.

It has the potential to develop into a full-fledged low pressure system reaching down to the sea level, Mr. Ramachandran said. If it does so, it can stir up the proceedings quite a bit over the whole of Kerala during the week ahead, according to him.

Meanwhile, Kerala State Electricity Board chairman Rajeev Sadanandan on Tuesday convened a meeting of the employees’ and officers’ unions in the institution to seek their help in carrying out the energy austerity measures now in force in the State.

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