Floods,landslides kill nearly 420 in western India

BOMBAY, Thursday (Reuters) Thousands of people remained stranded around Bombay on Thursday as floods and landslides from the worst monsoon rains in decades killed at least 418 people in the region and brought India's financial capital to a halt.

Half the deaths were in Bombay, a city of 15 million where three days of torrential rains have disrupted rail, road and air travel, said a relief official in the western state of Maharashtra.

"The figures could still rise as we are still collecting details," he said.

Rescuers were trying to recover the bodies of an estimated 100 people buried under an avalanche of mud in a village 150 km (95 miles) south of Bombay.

Phone links in Bombay were still patchy, schools remained shut and many commuters were stranded for a third day on Thursday as most trains and buses were cancelled.

The airport, India's busiest, remained closed with the runway under water.

Cars were abandoned in the north of the city and thousands of commuters who opted not to make a long, treacherous walk home on Wednesday, had to spend a second night in offices or hotels.

News channels carried hundreds of rolling text messages from worried family members trying to get in touch with loved ones.

"Bombay is improving, but traffic is still slow. Things should be normal by afternoon provided rains stop flooding streets," a relief official at the flood control centre said.

Trading on Bombay's stock, bond and currency markets was shut. As on Wednesday, the Maharashtra state government called a holiday for Thursday, advising people to stay home.

Rescuers searched in the rain for more bodies in the village of Juigaon, 150 km (90 miles) south of Bombay where between 100 and 150 people were believed caught in a mudslide on Tuesday.

"About 100 have died," Krishna Vatsa, the state relief secretary, told Reuters. "The relief operation is continuing."

Vatsa had not yet heard of any survivors. Another landslide in Bombay's Andheri suburb killed 36 people.

The army, navy and air force have been called in to help relief workers air-drop food packets to stranded people, as floodwaters swept the Maharashtra coast.

One area in the north of Bombay received a record-breaking 94 cm (37 inches) of rainfall on Tuesday. More heavy rains are forecast for the next two days, state officials said.

Limited train services were running in Bombay and electricity has been restored in most places. Thousands of people had to be evacuated and tens of thousands more were stranded as floodwaters raged through the city's streets on Wednesday.

People forced to stay in offices and hotels for two nights shopped for clothes and thronged restaurants and bars, and several cash machines ran out of money. Taxis and buses were scarce.

Airport officials hoped at least one runway at the Bombay airport would be ready to resume operations soon.

"But it all depends on the weather. Visibility is still poor and we are hoping it improves by noon," Sudhir Kumar, director of the airport, told Reuters.

Flights to Bombay had been suspended since Tuesday afternoon after the runway was flooded in the rains.

The chaos was a tough reminder of the inadequacies of Bombay's infrastructure, despite a hugely ambitious $6 billion plan to turn it into a "new Shanghai".