Streams of office-goers poured from railway stations into the city's streets, holding colourful umbrellas against the occasional drizzle as schools, colleges and offices reopened.

Traffic jams returned as residents, who had been urged by police at the height of the monsoon torrents to stay indoors, drove to work. Buses, taxis and three-wheelers added to the chaos.

A total of 1,023 people have died across the western state of Mahara-shtra including Mumbai since the heaviest rainfall in a 24-hour period was recorded in the region on July 26, police said Wednesday.

The situation in far-flung districts of the state was still serious, said state police chief P.S. Pasricha. He said extra rescue teams from the navy had been rushed to flooded areas in the southwest.

Some 60,000 villagers living alongside rain-swollen rivers, lakes and dams across the state were moved to higher ground during the night on Monday as officials were forced to release water from dams, causing downstream flooding.

Aid organisations such as Oxfam, ActionAid International and the Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission, who held a meeting overnight to discuss relief and rehabilitation program-mes being undertaken by the state government, warned some flooded areas had still to be reached.

"The situation is under control in certain areas," said P. Unnikrishnan, a spokesman for ActionAid International. "(But) in some places there is not enough to eat. There is a shortage of chlorine tablets.

"It is time for a reality check. The media and television channels portray Mumbai's economic might and think receding waters are good. The ground situation is entirely different. Relief materials are only reaching isolated places."