Floods and landslides across southern and western Indian states have killed nearly 200 people over the past week as the Indian Army intensifies its relief operations to help thousands stranded in desperate need of rescue.

Extreme weather conditions that have been battering the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarat since last week forced hundreds of thousands of people to seek temporary shelters. The heavy rains also impacted travel in the region, disrupting train and airport connections.

To deal with the ongoing calamity, which by Sunday claimed at least 178 lives, the Indian armed forces deployed around 3,000 personnel and units of various hardware, including helicopters, to help with flood relief and rescue operations in the four affected states.

The surge in water level caused all the rivers in the state of Karnataka to overflow. At least 40 people were confirmed dead in Karnataka, and at least 400,000 were displaced. The state disaster management agency tried to reassure locals on Sunday, announcing that "the water has started receding in many districts and flood situation has improved."

In the southern state of Kerala, at least 67 people were killed in rain-related incidents, while 227,000 people were moved to some 1,551 relief camps. Water levels have been falling on Sunday, but authorities say it's too early to be optimistic. "We need to be cautious. It's not easy to escape from landslides," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Floods also hit Maharashtra state, where at least 40 deaths were reported, while an estimated 400,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Another 31 deaths were reported in Gujarat state, which was also hit by the monsoon and landslides.

Floods and landslides have killed more than 270 people in India this month, displaced one million and inundated thousands of homes across six states, authorities said on Wednesday after two weeks of heavy monsoon rains.

The rains from June to September are a lifeline for rural India, delivering some 70% of the country's rainfall, but they also cause death and destruction each year.

The southern states of Kerala and Karnataka, and Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west, were among the hardest hit by floods that washed away thousands of hectares of summer-sown crops and damaged roads and rail lines.

At least 95 people were killed and more than 50 are missing in Kerala, where heavy rainfall triggered dozens of landslides last week and trapped more than 100 people.

About 190,000 people are still living in relief camps in the state, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, but he added some people are returning home as flood waters recede.

In neighboring Karnataka, home to the technology hub Bengaluru, 54 people died and 15 are missing after rivers burst their banks when authorities released water from dams.

Nearly 700,000 people have been evacuated in the state.

Heavy rainfall is expected in parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, as well as the central state of Madhya Pradesh, in the next two days, weather officials said.

In Maharashtra, which includes the financial capital Mumbai, 48 people died but flood waters are receding, said a state official.

"We are now trying to restore electricity and drinking water supplies," he said.

In Madhya Pradesh, the biggest producer of soybeans, heavy rains killed 32 people and damaged crops, authorities said.

In Gujarat, 31 people died in rain-related incidents, while landslides killed nearly a dozen people in the northern hilly state of Uttarakhand.