KOLKATA, India, Sept 29 (AFP) Sep 29, 2007

At least 88 people have died in rain-related accidents in eastern India
since the start of September with tens of thousands stranded in
state-run relief camps, officials said.

Rain-related accidents in the state of West Bengal have claimed 48 lives
there in recent days, a minister told AFP.

"The death toll rose to 48 today with 19 more people dying of snake
bites, electrocutions and wall collapses," said relief minister Mortaza
Hossain on Saturday.

"More than three million people have been displaced by the flooding in
eight districts."

Some 200,000 homes have also been destroyed, state officials said, but
added that the situation was under control with boats rescuing people
from roof-tops and houses.

The situation in eastern Orissa state was also grim with 40 dead this
month, many in recent days, Manmohan Samal, minister for revenue and
disaster management in the state, told AFP Friday.

The floods had cost the Orissa exchequer some 275 million dollars, the
state government said, but no new deaths were reported from the state
Saturday and rains appeared to be diminishing.

More than 3,100 people have been killed by rain and floods in India
since the start of the June to September monsoons, the latest figures
available from India's home ministry showed.

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