Hill region reels under impact of north-east monsoon; 44 dead in two days; toll across Tamil Nadu reaches 75 7 OF FAMILY DIE Landslide kills a TNSTC driver and six members of his family. The roof of their house is found hundreds of feet away, buried PICKING UP THE PIECES Administration to decide today on long holidays for schools and measures to be taken for repairing roads and relief work CM REVIEW Chief Minister M Karunanidhi deputes two ministers to supervise and expedite relief work in the Nilgiris THE north-east monsoon devastated many parts of the Nilgiris district for the second consecutive day, killing 30 people on Tuesday. Twelve women and seven children were among the victims. Along with a major landslide at Ketti firka, landslips and house collapses occurred in about 500 places in the district and caused the fatalities. The death toll has now climbed to 44. Officials fear it may mount as there is a possibility that many walls, revetments may have collapsed and trees uprooted as a result of loosening of the soil. As the day dawned, residents of Achananakal village in Ketti firka woke up to see an enor mous amount of debris that had resulted from a landslide. Sources said it killed seven members of a family. The victims were identified as Louis, 55, a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation driver, his wife, two daughters, son-in-law and granddaughter's kids, government officials said. The roof of their house was dragged hundreds of feet through agricultural fields and was found buried near a church. A car and two motorbikes were also dragged along. Rain-related mishaps killed six persons in Coonoor, six in Ooty area and three in Kotagiri belt. The district administration has announced closure of educational institutions on Wednesday and a meeting has been convened to decide on declaring long holidays for schools, measures to be taken for repairing roads and relief work. On the fatality-filled day, the district recorded 318.2 mm rainfall.