NEW DELHI, July 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Floods continued to devastate Bihar state in east India and Assam state in northeast India on Monday with latest estimates saying that 151 persons have lost their lives and nearly 21 million persons have been affected.

    "Nearly 12 million people continued to reel under the impact ofthe floods which had unleashed their fury in 17 districts of Bihar," the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted state relief and rehabilitation department sources as said.

    "seventy-eight people have so far lost their lives in the current spell of floods in Bihar," the sources said.

    Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi has asked the district officials to further intensify the relief work for affected people with the help of army personnel.

    According to a central water commission report, all the major rivers, including Gandak, Ganga, Kosi and Bagmati, were flowing above the danger mark at different points along their course.

    The death toll in the flood that had gripped Assam rose to 73 with reports of five more drowning cases including that of an eight-month-old infant coming from Morigaon district, PTI reported.

    Meanwhile, with the recovery of the carcass of a seven-month old rhino calf at the Bontapu forest in the Orang national park, the number of animals killed in the floods in Assam has risen to 231.

    The flood has affected 26 of the 27 districts in Assam.

    The situation in Assam remains grim, affecting nearly 9 millionpeople and disrupting rail and road communication in the state.

    Brahmaputra river, fed by incessant rain in Meghalaya state in northeast India, has overtopped National Highway Number 37, threatening to disrupt the vital road communication to upper Assamas well as the northeastern Indian states of Nagaland and Manipur.

    Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Assam on Tuesday to take stock of the situation.

    "Meanwhile, state of Tripura in northeast India continued to remain cut off from the rest of the nation since July 9 due to landslides caused by incessant rains," PTI quoted local official sources as said.

    Floods and landslides are common in India during the monsoon season when yearly rains combine with melting snow from the Himalayas.

    Millions are displaced each year by floods in the monsoon season in India. Enditem