BOMBAY, 28 July 2005 — At least 200 people died yesterday in the western Indian state of Maharashtra as its capital Bombay was totally paralyzed during the country’s heaviest rainfall on record.

“Approximately 200 dead bodies have already been recovered in the state,” R.R. Patil, home minister of the state told newsmen. “This figure includes 83 dead in Bombay.” He said 100 more deaths were feared across the state, which was pounded by incessant rainfall since Tuesday afternoon.

The deaths were caused by swirling flood waters, collapsing walls and electrical short circuits.

Rescue teams have begun distributing food packets and drinking water, Patil said.

The rain shut down the country’s financial hub Bombay, snapped communication lines, and closed airports and train stations for more than a day.

Troops were deployed after the sudden rains — measuring up to 94.23 centimeters (37.1 inches) in one day in suburban Bombay — stranded tens of thousands of people.

India’s previous heaviest rainfall, recorded at Cherrapunji in the northeastern Meghalaya state — one of the rainiest places on the earth — was 83.82 centimeters (33 inches) on July 12, 1910.

The Bombay lifeline — the local trains which ferry about one million people daily — came to a complete standstill and several long-distance trains were canceled. No flights since Tuesday afternoon could take off or land till yesterday evening, and people using road transport were confined to their vehicles for several hours without food or water.

People at railway stations and the airport were compelled to stay put at these places overnight and local officegoers spent the night in their office premises.

The worst affected areas in Bombay were Bandra, Mahim, Santa Cruz, Andheri, Mira Road, Byculla, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Thane, Goregaon and Badlapur.

Over 100 people have been reported to have lost their lives in Raigad district, after a landslide. And 20 people including 10 children were killed in two landslides in Andheri and 300 were still trapped under the debris. A landslide in Nerul, New Bombay, killed 18 people.

At an emergency Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh declared a statewide holiday yesterday, and sought help from the Defense Ministry. About 7,000 men from the army, navy and air force joined their civilian counterparts to help control the situation. Two companies of Central Reserve Police Force were summoned from Pune to help the administration in relief work.

The Bombay airport continued to be closed for the second consecutive day as the runway remained waterlogged due to incessant rains.

A Reliance Energy Limited official said that power had been restored in 90 percent of the city homes.

The landline and cell phone services were also worst hit by the rains and the communications network collapsed completely. It will take some more time for the communications network to be back to normalcy, said a telecom official of the federal government.