The death toll in floods in western India caused by the heaviest rainfall ever recorded soared to nearly 450 today, half of them in the nation’s densely packed commercial and entertainment capital, Bombay.

Tens of thousands were still stranded far from home today in the usually bustling city of 15 million, which was paralysed for two days by the unprecedented monsoon downpour which dumped nearly a metre of water on the city in the course of 24 hours.

The city observed another day of enforced public holiday as the state government urged workers to stay at home while rescuers struggled to get to grips with the chaos. In suburbs of the city as well as outlying villages, emergency workers dug their way through thick mud and rubble in search of any survivors from multiple mudslides which buried dwellings.

Other casualties were drowned by the waters, died trapped in cars or were electrocuted by fallen power lines or crushed by falling walls. In the northern suburb of Saki Naka, where the worst of the rains fell, an entire hillside crashed onto the huts of residents, killing at least 45 people.

"I was scared the hill would fall. I kept telling my cousin, ‘Let’s leave,’" said Aslam Khan, a survivor. "But he wouldn’t listen. Now it’s too late."

In a separate tragedy blamed on the freak weather patterns, hundreds of rescued oil workers were helicoptered into Bombay after being rescued from an oil platform which was destroyed by fire after a ship crashed into it in rough seas.

News coverage in India was dominated by extraordinary aerial pictures of the inundated island city, where rivers replaced roads and great lakes opened up between skyscrapers in the business district.

Monsoon flooding is not unusual in India but the deluge was unprecedented in Bombay, a hectic, cosmopolitan city, home to India’s greatest wealth as well as some of its worst poverty.

Thousands of cars were abandoned as people gave up on making the journey home, many of them opting to spend a second night sleeping at their office desks or in packed-out downtown hotels. Clothes shops and restaurants that had remained opened were packed with stranded commuters stocking up and many city cash machines ran out of money.

Schools remained shut for a second day, along with the city’s stock exchange and futures market. A couple of flights began limping out of the airport, the country’s busiest, and a few trains started running again but still thousands seeking to leave the city remained stranded with no clue of when they would get home.

Nand Ramesh, 20, who came to Bombay seeking a job that fell through, was trying to get a train back to his home in Orissa but had no ticket. "I was told this was the city of opportunity," he said. "I don’t know whether it was my luck. I have no money and no way of calling home."

Most phone networks remained cut for a second day yesterday as television news stations broadcast frantic messages sent by anxious relatives begging those missing to call home. For many, the chaos was a tough reminder of the continued inadequacies of Bombay’s creaking infrastructure, despite a hugely ambitious $6 billion plan to turn it into a "new Shanghai."

Bloggers in Bombay, also known by its newer name of Mumbai, called the floods a wake-up call for the city authorities. "I think Mumbaikars deserves this!!!" Sanjay Shah, one blogger wrote. "They do not bother about public life, poor infrastructure in the city, give undue publicity to hungry politicians and take corruption as part of daily routine!"

But others took heart from warming stories of good Samaritan behaviour, unheard of in many of India’s other big cities. "All I can say is Mumbai is down underwater but not OUT," Sahal wrote. "Cheers Mumbaiiyas... keep up the Hi-SPIRITS!"

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