Torrential rains and flash floods washed away homes and roads in north India, leaving at least 64 people dead and thousands stranded, as the annual monsoon hit the country earlier than normal, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities called in military helicopters to try to rescue residents and pilgrims cut off by rising rivers and landslides triggered by more than three days of rain in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, officials said.

"So far, we have found 54 bodies and 17 others are still missing," top disaster management official Piush Rautela told AFP by telephone.

Five airbases in northern India have been activated to speed up operations, said a statement from the military.

Television footage showed bridges, houses and multi-storied buildings crashing down and being washed away by the swirling waters. A swollen river is seen engulfing a giant statue of Lord Shiva in the tourist hub of Rishikesh.

Roads in many areas have been destroyed, leaving hundreds of pilgrims stranded on their way to visit shrines in remote areas. Authorities have cancelled pilgrimage trips, fearing further rains and landslides in the state.

Fresh rains in some districts were hampering rescue efforts, with teams from the national disaster management authority camping in the popular pilgrimage town of Haridwar awaiting air lift to the worst-affected districts, officials said.

The state government was also readying food parcels and drinking water to be dropped by helicopters to remote villages.

"The situation is very grim. The meteorological office has predicted that the rain will continue for another three days at least," government official Amit Chandola was quoted by television stations as saying.

A few villages close to the border with China have seen unseasonal snowfall, leaving dozens of shepherds and thousands of sheep stranded, a village headman told AFP. Over the border in Nepal, at least 12 people have been killed in landslides triggered by monsoon rain over the last three days, officials said.

AFP