The deaths were reported in the past 24 hours across the state as the number of people affected by the floods rose to two million and damage estimates to property went up to 200 million rupees (4.3 million dollars), Bihar's relief department said in a statement.

Officials said alerts had been declared in six more districts near the border with Himalayan Nepal, as the Gandak river at points was flowing 52 centimeters (20.5 inches) above the danger level.

Floods are an annual occurrence in much of South Asia and Bihar authorities said they had the situation under control.

"A total of 1,127 boats have been pressed into service and altogether 64 health centers are providing round-the-clock medical assistance to flood-affected people," Bihar's deputy secretary of relief operations, Upendra Sharma, told AFP.

While the floods have primarily affected villages, Bihar's capital Patna has been drenched by heavy rain. City residents have also noticed a sharp rise in the prices of vegetables as the chief agricultural regions are under water.

Last year, more than 350 people were killed in floods in Bihar, one of India's poorest states.

Floods have taken a heavy toll in South Asia this year, with 133 people killed in the past week in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

Thirty-two people have died this year in floods India's northeastern state of Assam and at least 85 in floods and storms in neighboring Bangladesh, although water levels in both areas began to recede last month.

At least 58 people died in Nepal in the past week in landslides set off by heavy rain, according to state radio in the kingdom.

TERRA.WIRE