Thirty-four of the deaths were reported in the state capital Mumbai, India's commercial hub, which was paralyzed by a day of pounding rains that finally eased Wednesday afternoon after flooding the streets with waist-high water.

The city's weather bureau said that Mumbai received 944.2 millimetersinches) of rainfall in a 24-hour period ending mid-morning Wednesday, the most rainfall ever recorded in a single day in India and beating a record which has stood since July 1910.

The deaths occurred in the suburban areas of Andheri and Navi Mumbai, according to a statement from Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

"These accidents were due to dilapidated walls or ceilings in old buildings and huts built along hill slopes," the statement said.

Road and air traffic to and from the city was suspended for a second day as the weather bureau forecast further heavy rains, although the downpours had stopped across most parts of the city by Wednesday afternoon.

Other areas in Maharashtra were also lashed by the rains that triggered landslides and flash-floods in remote villages and left more than 65 dead with another 100 trapped, the statement said.

Most of the deaths occurred in Raighad district, about 170 kilometersmiles) south of Mumbai, where miserable conditions made rescues difficult and left many villages stranded.

"Police rescue teams have still to reach affected villages as they're inaccessible due to the heavy floods," said senior inspector Sunil Dareghan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was scheduled to tour areas devastated by the rains and pledged federal government help to recover from the deluge as navy boats were used to rescue people in badly flooded areas.

The Press Trust of India reported that 5,000 army and navy personnel joined the rescue effort in the worst hit areas of the state, including Raighad, and that four military helicopters were being used to bring people to safety and drop food.

The main arteries were shut to most road and rail traffic. Power supplies, cut Tuesday for safety reasons, were still erratic on Wednesday.

Schools in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district were closed for two days while Mumbai's bond, commodity and currency markets halted trading. The stock market stayed open but trade was thin.

Officials later announced that banks and stock markets will be shut in Mumbai Thursday as the city recovers from the rains.

"The city always gets heavy rains in the monsoon but it has never been like this. The waters have not receded ... There's no way I could get to work," said Ashiwini Gupta, a call centre staffer in suburban Mumbai.

Many people in the congested city of 15 million spent the night Tuesday in hotels after roads were flooded and the suburban train service was halted.

"There are only two things I can see on the roads, water and people, and each is battling the other," said Rakesh Mehra, a financial dealer who was trying to drive home.

Torrential rains have been pounding parts of the state for four straight days.

The annual monsoon rains which sweep the subcontinent from June to September routinely kill hundreds of people in India and cause widespread devastation.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil told parliament Wednesday that since the start of the monsoon season in early June, 633 people have lost their lives in floods or landslides.

About 76,000 animals have also been killed, and 700,000 hectaresmillion acres) of land and 283,000 houses have been damaged.

He said 5.6 million people in 131 districts and 16,000 villages have been affected by the floods.

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