Heavy rains continue to hit India

By Ayanjit Sen
BBC News, Delhi

The rain has affected urban and rural areas

Heavy rains continue to lash different states in India including the western state of Maharashtra, where at least 35 have been killed in recent days.

More than 50,000 people have been evacuated and taken to safer areas, the relief and rehabilitation secretary of Maharashtra state has said

The army, navy and air force have been deployed in flood affected areas.

Floods have also forced the evacuation of 200 villages in the central states of Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Seven people are reported killed in those states, where the authorities say at least 40,000 people have taken shelter in relief camps.

The Indian capital has also been hit by rain

They say the Indravati and the Sabri rivers are still flowing above the danger mark in Chattisgarh.

Meanwhile, more than 30,000 people have been evacuated by armed forces from water-logged low lying areas in central and southern Gujarat following incessant rain.

Officials said high tides at sea have added to the problem as the flow of water towards the sea has been inhibited.

The army has been put on alert in the state's Baroda and Surat districts, with reports of the Narmada river overflowing.

More than 50 people have died in rain related incidents in the state since the onset of the monsoon at the beginning of June.

In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the death toll due to rain related incidents has gone up to 94.

Hundreds of villages are still marooned because of rains in different districts of the state.

A national highway linking Andhra Pradesh with Maharashtra is flooded near Adilabad and hundreds of vehicles are stranded on both sides of the road for the second day on Monday.