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Rescue workers are racing to reach tens of thousands of people stranded in rain-ravaged northern India, as the number killed in the flooding nears 600.

Scores of bodies have been pulled from the swollen River Ganges after torrential monsoon rains struck the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand earlier than predicted.

Raging rivers have swept away houses, buildings and entire villages, and destroyed bridges and narrow roads leading to pilgrimage towns in the mountainous state, which is known as the Land of the Gods for its revered Hindu shrines.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who arrived in the state capital Dehradun on Saturday, said 73,000 people had been rescued so far with up to 32,000 still stranded.

He warned rescuers to hurry because more rain is expected and said: "At least 550 people have died and 392 people are injured."

He also said steps were being taken up on a "war footing" to deal with the "national crisis".

Dozens of helicopters and thousands of soldiers have been deployed to rescue people trapped across the flood-devastated state.

The family of Kavita Tyagi, 26, who was stranded near the pilgrimage site of Badrinath for more than a week, told of their ordeal after they were air-lifted to Gauchar, a hill town in the state's Chamoli district.

She said: "We had been stuck for more than a week. We ran out of food and all our money. My three-year-old son is with me and we can't describe the harrowing times that we have faced.

"My mother and brother are still to be evacuated since the chopper could accommodate only eight people. We are now just praying that they too land safely."

A group of 20 trekkers, including six Americans, were rescued after they were marooned near a remote glacier since the rains struck last week.

"They were on a trekking trip but got trapped because of the landslides and flash floods. The chopper has landed there now and they are all safe," said Neeraj Khairwal, a top official of Pithoragarh district.

The military operation, involving some 50 helicopters and more than 10,000 soldiers, was focused on reaching those stranded in the holy town of Badrinath after earlier finding widespread devastation in the Kedarnath temple area.

The Indian Air Force was transporting heavy equipment for repairs of roads and construction of temporary helipads, according to an official press release.

Special trains and buses have been pressed into service to ferry tourists back home while medical and food supplies were also being flown in to the stranded people.