PATNA, Sept 7: At least 50,000 people in India have refused to abandon their homes in flood-ravaged northern Indian despite pleas by authorities to evacuate, an official said on Sunday.

Newspaper advertisements also urged thousands of flood survivors on Sunday to go to one of 77 state-run camps set up in Saharsa district in impoverished Bihar state, where clean drinking water, food and medical care was available.

At least 50,000 people have refused to leave their homes in the district, one of the worst-affected areas in Bihar, said Prataya Amrit, a state disaster management official. Towns and villages in the flooded area are home to about 1.2 million people.Rescue workers have evacuated about 900,000 villagers, but with river levels falling by up to two feet over the last few days, thousands began to return to their homes, Amrit said.

The Kosi River, which flows down from the Himalayas in neighbouring Nepal into India where it joins the Ganges River, burst its banks on Aug 18 and dramatically shifted course, moving dozens of miles to the east.

It turned hundreds of square miles of land in Bihar into a giant lake.

On Saturday, government engineers began digging a new channel to correct the course of the river and plug the mile-long breach in the embankment.

Disaster officials have not said when it would be safe for villagers to return, and displaced residents may have to remain in camps for several months.—AP