In southern Andhra Pradesh state more than 100 people have died in the past week and 472,000 have been hit by the floods, senior administration official Priyadarshini told AFP.

More than 600 villages in three districts were under water and 296 relief camps had been set up to house those displaced by the flooding, she said in the state capital Hyderabad.

Some 283 boats, including a naval craft, had been deployed to rescue marooned people while seven helicopters were dropping food, drinking water, milk sachets and medicines to those trapped.

The rains were easing and water levels starting to drop, Priyadarshini added.

In neighbouring Gujarat state, the authorities have relocated 190,000 people from Surat, famous for its diamond polishing industry, an official from the state flood control room said.

"Indian army, air force and paramilitary personnel have been asked to assist the relief efforts, distributing food, clean water and moving people from submerged areas," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Five people had been washed away by floodwaters in the state, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

Thousands of people in Surat were forced to move out of their houses after water was released from the swollen Ukai dam upstream on the Tapti river which flows through the town.

"The water level in the dam is just one foot below the danger mark at 344 feet (105 metres) and we have to do something soon to relieve the situation," the official said.

About 300 soldiers equipped with 10 boats and life jackets were rescuing people trapped on rooftops of submerged houses in waterlogged areas, he said.

"We also have four air force helicopters (to drop) food packets and clean water sachets to the people," he added.

Low-lying bridges were closed to traffic and authorities had issued fresh warnings, asking people living along river banks to move to safer places as they prepared to release water accumalated in many dams in the state.

In the western state of Maharashtra, thousands left homeless by the monsoon rains in 15 of the states's 35 districts were being airdropped food and medicines, a state official said.

Twenty-seven people had died overnight taking the death toll in the state due to the current spell of rains that began a week ago to 62, said Bhupathy Pandey, Maharashtra's relief and rehabilitation secretary.

About 105,000 people had been displaced by floods, Pandey said, adding people in another 184 villages would need to be relocated to higher ground as many of the dams and rivers in the state were overflowing.

Six navy boats had been pressed into service in the flood-devastated districts of Nasik and Nandanwadi to rescue marooned people, Pandey said.

An India air force AN-32 transport aircraft was dropping supplies.

"The situation is under control," Pandey said.

In the Maoist insurgency-affected tiny central state of Chhattisgarh, 20,000 people had been evacuated to 19 relief camps, an official said.

The latest deaths took the nationwide death toll linked to the annual monsoon rains since mid-May to 567, 187 of them in the past week alone, according to an AFP tally.

The flood situation in the country was raised in India's national parliament with Home Minister Shivraj Patil assuring MPs that New Delhi was ready to provide any assistance needed.

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