A disaster management ministry spokesman said the meeting was called after floodwaters gushing down to the Bay of Bengal submerged more of northern and central Bangladesh.

The situation could get even worse in coming months as monsoon rains continue.

Local media estimates suggest four million people in 24 of Bangladesh's 64 districts have been affected by the annual calamity, left homeless, displaced or in waterlogged houses with no crops to till or harvest. Official figures have not been tabulated.

"The rain and run-off from the hills in neighbouring India are causing the floods and 24 districts have been affected" by floods from the Brahmaputra, Padma and Jamuna rivers that criss-cross the country's northern districts, the ministry spokesman said.

Concerns were rising as high as the water downriver in the central districts of Manikganj, Munshiganj, Rajbari and Madaripur as hundreds of villages along river banks were flooded.

The flooding has disrupted road links, while schools have been turned into makeshift camps for the displaced.

The Daily Star newspaper, quoting official sources, said 9,677 kilometres (6,000 miles) of road have been damaged. More than 1,800 embankments and culverts have been hit.

The swollen lakes and canals in the capital Dhaka, whose low-lying suburbs have also flooded, were expanding further Thursday, residents said.

There is no official death toll, but 80 people have been reported killed in flood-related incidents since the monsoon began three weeks ago, with landslides in the southeastern hill tracts late last month claiming many casualties.

The government's flood warning centre said Thursday that the situation was deteriorating in 10 central Bangladeshi districts, but there were signs of improvement in the north.

Of the 85 measured river points, 32 recorded a rise, 30 fell and the rest remained static, the centre said.

Bangladesh is criss-crossed by more than 230 rivers, which ravage the country almost each year.

TERRA.WIRE