KOLKATA, India, July 7, 2007 (AFP) - Floods in eastern India have left nearly a million people stranded, authorities said Saturday, as the nationwide death toll from torrential monsoon rains hit 655. "All rivers are flowing above the danger level," said Mortaza Hossain, relief minister in West Bengal state, which has been hard hit by the rains. "Rescuers have evacuated some 6,500 people," he told AFP. The deluge has marooned almost a million people in 3,000 villages in coastal areas of the state, the minister said. Five people have been washed away by flood waters, taking the toll in the past week in the state to 20 and nationwide to 655, according to officials and the Press Trust of India (PTI) agency.

In the western Indian state of Rajasthan, a dam, more than 100 years old, developed cracks after it filled up, district officials said. "The crack happened Friday morning but by night water was coming out faster," said district official Kiran Soni Gupta, adding that the dam was filled to its capacity of 14,000 million cubic feet (420 million cubic metres). Gupta said some 50 surrounding villages had been evacuated, with about 30,000 people moved to safer areas. "Up until now we have taken water out but we are still worried it could collapse," she said. Elsewhere in the state, 25 people were missing after a vehicle carrying 35 passengers fell into a swollen river, the PTI said.

The monsoon, which sweeps India from June to September, often causes flooding and deaths in the densely populated country of a billion-plus people. Western Maharashtra state has recorded the most deaths, with 385, the PTI reported. The deaths have been caused by building collapses, lightning strikes and drownings across India. The army and air force were called to provide assistance in West Bengal, but bad weather has hampered relief efforts. In the state capital Kolkata, more than 100 people have contracted infections due to the rains, officials said. The deluge has also left a trail of death and destruction in Gujarat state in the country's west, and in the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. str-pg-tl/jw