By Faisal Aziz

KARACHI, June 26 (Reuters) - Heavy rain fell over the Pakistani city of Karachi on Tuesday as a cyclone loomed off the coast, threatening more devastation days after about 230 people were killed in the city during another storm.

Authorities in Pakistan and neighbouring India have evacuated thousands of people from low-lying areas after weekend storms and flooding killed nearly 400 people across the South Asian region.

Traffic was thin on Karachi's gloomy streets as many people stayed at home.

Paramilitary troops were directing traffic at intersections where traffic lights were still out of order after the weekend chaos.

"Overall, the situation is bad but under control," said city police chief Azhar Farooqui.

"The rain has disrupted normal life and it won't be a normal day today."

But the Meteorological Department said the worst might be over for Pakistan's biggest city, still struggling to restore power in some areas after the weekend chaos.

"Tropical Cyclone 03B (Yemyin) during the last six hours has moved in a north-westerly direction and its intensity has also decreased slightly," the department's latest advisory says, adding the storm was moving away from the city of about 12 million people.

The storm was due to hit land in Baluchistan province, to the west of Sindh province, of which Karachi is capital.

"As far as Sindh is concerned, the worst appears to be over, but widespread rains in coastal areas of Sindh may continue during the next 12 hours," the department said.

At least six people were killed in severe weather in Baluchistan on Monday and authorities there said thousands of people were being evacuated from low-lying areas, including from near a dam.

In neighbouring India, authorities have began evacuating tens of thousands threatened by flooding as the toll from havoc wrecked by the arrival of the rainy season topped 150.

Thousands of villages have been left without basic services in India's worst-hit southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Indian weather officials forecast heavy rain on both west and east coasts, with a storm in the Bay of Bengal due to hit Andhra Pradesh by Wednesday.

Hundreds of people are killed each year, and hundreds of thousands are forced from their homes, in the South Asian rainy season. Though deadly, the rain is vital for agriculture and national economies. (Additional reporting by Kamran Haider)

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