Rivers in a few parts of the country, where at least 73 people have died and millions have been displaced, were swelling but weather officials said the trend would soon reverse following a respite from monsoon rains.

The Flood Warning Centre said the situation in districts neighbouring Dhaka would remain static while those in northern and northwestern districts would improve as water levels in major rivers -- Brahmaputra, Jamuna and Ganges -- had begun to recede.

It said rivers around Dhaka, home to more than 10 million people, were rising due to the run-off from the monsoons as the water flowed south into the Bay of Bengal.

The government said it was distributing emergency supplies to villages in hopes of warding off a humanitarian disaster due to the displacement by the floods of some five million people.

Water-borne diseases including diarrhoea have been on the rise.

Disaster management ministry sources said aid work was being ratcheted up in response to damage reports from 26 flood-hit districts.

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

In 1988, three months of sustained floods left several hundred people dead and caused millions of dollars of damage, prompting a French-sponsored global call to help Bangladesh develop a long-term flood protection system.

A decade later, in 1998, Bangladesh was again ravaged by flooding, said to be the worst in a century, leaving millions homeless and causing huge damage to crops and infrastructure.

TERRA.WIRE