In the worst-affected northeastern state of Assam, two people drowned in separate incidents overnight in the eastern Morigaon district, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the state capital Guwahati, when their boats capsized as they tried to escape the fury of the floods, officials said.

The deaths bring the death toll in the state from the floods which began on June 27 to 25.

"The main Brahmaputra river burst its banks at several places overnight, flooding hundreds more villages and forcing people in the thousands to move to safer areas," Assam Flood Control Minister Nurzamal Sarkar told AFP.

"The situation is worsening by the hour with the river rising menacingly all along its course."

The Brahmaputra is one of Asia's largest rivers, originating as the Tsangpo in Tibet and flowing 740 kilometres (460 miles) across Assam before entering Bangladesh and meeting the sea at the Bay of Bengal. It floods every year during the monsoon season.

"We are in for more devastation, with floods affecting fresh areas every day," Assam Revenue Minister Mithias Tudu told AFP.

"Army and civil workers are engaged in relief and rescue operations across the state."

New troubles faced the soaked villagers who fled to escape the floods and arrived at makeshift government camps only to find scanty relief supplies and inadequate food.

"People will die of hunger and disease with no food and medical aid coming in from the authorities," said Dhritiman Saikia, a villager elder in Madarchinga, 50 kilometres (31 miles) west of Guwahati.

"We have got nothing in the form of relief from the government since we left our homes four days ago when floodwaters entered our village."

Waterborne diseases have also begun to creep across the flood-hit areas, killing at least three people in the ravaged eastern Dhemaji district, 460 kilometres (285 miles) from Guwahati, officials said.

"Two children and an elderly woman died of gastroenteritis in two remote villages in Dhemaji during the past two days," a health official said.

Outbreaks of malaria and Japanese encephalitis have, along with waterborne parasitic disease, claimed the lives of at least 78 people since the beginning of June.

Hundreds have headed for the hills to avoid the surging floodwaters, said boatman Tamizuddin Ali of Mandakata village, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the state capital, whose loved ones were among 300 families crowding the Dirgeswari hills since Saturday.

In the eastern state of Bihar, one more person died due to the heavy rains lashing the region, an official statement said, pushing the official death toll in the state to eight. Another four people had been killed in lightning strikes.

The state authorities put the Indian army and railway officials on alert for the quick despatch and delivery of relief supplies if the flood situation worsened.

"For the uninterrupted supply of food grains and other relief materials the general manager of central railway zone has been asked to keep trains in readiness," the statement said.

The floods have so far affected 262 villages in five districts of Bihar, displacing 300,000 people and damaging crops, the statement added.

Another 36 people have died in northern and eastern Indian from monsoon storms and floods.

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TERRA.WIRE