Relief coordinators put the steadily rising death toll for the western state of Maharashtra at 513.

Rescuers were trying to recover the bodies of an estimated 100 people buried under an avalanche of mud in the village of Juigaon, 150 km (95 miles) south of Bombay.

"The chances of finding any survivors from Jui are bleak," said Suresh Kakine, a senior state relief official.

A landslide at a slum near the Bombay suburb of Andheri killed at least 56 people, and efforts were on to retrieve dozens of more bodies believed to be buried in the mud.

Hundreds of oil workers arrived in Bombay on Thursday after being rescued from an oil platform destroyed by fire off India's west coast after a support vessel crashed into it in rough seas on Wednesday, eyewitnesses said. Twelve people were killed.

After being stranded since Tuesday, Bombay commuters made their way home on trains and buses. The airport, India's busiest, allowed some flights to take off after being shut for two days.

Cars and bicycles were seen abandoned around the city, while commuters who opted not to make a long, treacherous walk home on Wednesday had spent a second night sleeping in offices or hotels.

News channels carried rolling text messages from worried family members trying to make sure their loved ones were alright.

Bombay's stock, bond, currency and commodity markets were all shut. As on Wednesday, the Maharashtra government called a holiday for Thursday, advising people to stay home.

The chaos was a tough reminder of the inadequacies of Bombay's infrastructure, despite a hugely ambitious $6 billion plan to turn it into the next Shanghai.

"Mumbai deserves more attention," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a news conference in the city, as he announced 5 billion rupees ($115 million) in additional aid for relief work.

"Its infrastructure must be modernised and made adequate and fit enough for the commercial business capital of the country."

Many people killed in Bombay landslides were building a road intended to improve traffic flow in the city, newspapers said.

RAGING WATER

One area in the north of Bombay received a record-breaking 94 cm (37 inches) of rain on Tuesday alone, representing nearly half the normal rainfall for the four-month monsoon season. Heavy rains are forecast for the next few days.

Thousands of people were evacuated as water raged through the city's streets on Wednesday. Witnesses in a working class area of northeast Bombay described how a rush of water suddenly burst from a storm drain, washing a group of men away.

"I know swimming, but it was of no help. The force of the water was too strong," said Aashish Thorat, a 22-year-old bank employee who managed to grab on to a lamp post and hold on until he was lifted out of the water by a few men in a passing truck.

At Bombay's main railway station, most local train services were running, but several hundred people sat on the concourse waiting for long-distance trains to depart. A spokesman said they would not get going until Friday morning at the earliest.

Nand Ramesh, a 20-year-old who came to Bombay seeking a job that fell through, wanted to get a train back to his home state of Orissa, on the other side of the country, but had no ticket.

"I was told this was the city of opportunity," he said. "I have no money and no way of calling home."

Many Bombay commuters had to buy new clothes after being stranded for two days, and cash machines ran out of money.

Those who made it home often faced bigger challenges when they got there. Some living in some ground floor apartments found water up to the ceiling, while others complained of black, foul-smelling water running from taps after sewage pipe bursts.

Flooding in the monsoon season in India, which runs from June to September, kills hundreds of people and disrupts life across the country every year. (US$1 = 43.5 Indian rupees)