57 killed in heavy rains in western India

New Delhi (dpa) - At least 57 people were killed on Tuesday in one of the worst floods and landslides in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Goa, news reports said.

With the deaths, the toll from heavy monsoon rains in India since the end of June has touched 348. Over two million people have been displaced in rains affecting nearly a dozen states.

Landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains in Raigad district in Maharashtra, some 100 kilometres south of the state capital Bombay, claimed 54 lives, PTI news agency reported. Three workers were killed in a landslide in the adjoining state of Goa.

In the Raigad district, thirty four people were killed in a landslide at Kondiwate village. 11 deaths were also reported from Roha and Poladpur villages in the district.

Ten deaths were reported from different villages, even as the navy pressed its helicopters into service to carry on rescue and relief operations.

Torrential showers in Bombay also paralysed daily life. Scores of passengers were left stranded at railway stations and airports, while traffic on roads in the state of Goa came to a standstill as the roads were submerged.

There is no respite in sight, with the meterological department predicting heavy to very heavy rains in the states for the next 48 hours. dpa sk sc