The situation in eastern Orissa state was grim with 40 dead, Manmohan Samal, minister for revenue and disaster management in the state, told AFP.

Further north in neighbouring West Bengal, heavy rains and related accidents claimed 29 lives with more than 200,000 homes destroyed, officials said.

Samal said September had been "a tough month" with the monsoons playing havoc.

"Floods in 12 of the state's 30 districts have killed 40 and affected over two million people," he added.

Samal attributed the rains to "several depressions or low pressure areas over Bay of Bengal this monsoon."

The worst hit were the coastal districts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda and Puri.

More than 2,200 people have been killed by rain and floods in India since the start of the June to September monsoons.

The floods had cost the Orissa exchequer some 275 million dollars, the state government said, as the meteorological office predicted more downpours in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile in West Bengal, flood relief minister Mortaza Hossain said house collapses, drownings, electrocution and snake bites had claimed 29 lives.

"All the deaths took place when heavy rains battered the state triggering floods in eight of 18 districts and inundated large swathes" of the capital Kolkata, Hossain told AFP by telephone.

A number of rivers were flowing over the danger mark with "hundreds of people stuck on roof-tops and trees," he said, adding more than 100 boats had been deployed in rescue missions.

"Nearly 200,000 people are staying in relief camps" as houses had collapsed or had been flooded due to rains.

The next 24 hours were unlikely to bring any relief with "heavy" showers forecast for the state, G.C. Debnath, director of the regional weather office said.

strs-er/pmc/mtp