As many as one million people have been left homeless by the Indian earthquake, UN disaster management officials say.

Homeless villagers in western India are to help rebuild their earthquake-ravaged region in an extensive food-for-work programme.

The death toll from the Indian earthquake is now said to be approaching 30,000 - and the final total could be much higher.

The Indian earthquake disaster could have killed up to 30,000 people in just one city and there are about 125,000 people unaccounted for throughout the region, officials said tonight.