India Floods: Up To 1,000 Feared Dead

At least 1,000 people may have died in flash floods and landslides in the north of India, officials have said.

The news comes as India's army military increases its efforts to reach tourists and pilgrims in villages and towns cut off by torrential monsoon rains in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

Helicopters and up to 10,000 soldiers have been deployed and mobilised to "provide leadership, succour, medical, air and engineer efforts", the army said in a statement.

Houses, buildings and vehicles have collapsed or been swept away by flooding rivers and landslides, while bridges and narrow roads have also been destroyed, leaving some 65,000 people stranded mainly at remote pilgrimage sites, officials said.

Torrential rains four and a half times as heavy as usual poured into Uttarakhand, known as the "Land of the Gods", where Hindu shrines and temples built high in the mountains attract many pilgrims.

A submerged statue of the Hindu lord Shiva stands in the flooded waters

One of those stranded was Indian cricket star Harbhajan Singh, who was trying to reach a Sikh pilgrimage site but had to take refuge in a police station.

"Some people are saying that we're stuck but I wouldn't say that we're stuck, I'd say we've been saved by God," the spin bowler said. "With the kind of rainstorm we witnessed, anything could have happened. Many people lost their lives."

"We estimate more than 1,000 people have died as unattended bodies are scattered all around," said Ganesh Godiyal, chairman of a trust in charge of several shrines in the pilgrimage towns of Kedarnath and Badrinath.

A house submerged in sand in Srinagar

Over the border in Nepal, another 22 people have been killed in recent days in landslides and flash floods also triggered by rains.

In India, the military operation was concentrating on reaching the worst-hit Kedarnath temple area, as families of those missing and stranded faced an anxious wait in Uttarakhand capital's Dehradun.

"Never seen anything like this ... entire roads have vanished and villages destroyed ... there's rubble everywhere," a military officer said.

People retrieve what belongings they can from their home

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday evening that the priority was rescuing those still stranded and helping more than 10,000 people already evacuated, describing the floods as "most distressing".

Local officials said 40 relief camps have been set up to house evacuated residents and tourists. Some 18 air force helicopters are  taking many of those rescued to the camps.

The monsoon, which covers the subcontinent from June to September, usually brings some flooding. But the heavy rains arrived early this year, catching many by surprise and exposing the country's lack of preparedness.

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