Bangla death toll from flood rises to 164

Dhaka, Aug 7 (UNI) With the recovery of eight more bodies today, the death toll in Bangladesh floods, which have ravaged more than half the country since mid-July, rose to 164.

The Flood Forecast and Warning Center (FFWC) said although the situation had improved slightly in the country's northern districts, the rivers surrounding Dhaka registered further rise in last 24 hours.

A FFWC official said the flood situation in and around Dhaka might aggravate if there was more rainfall in next two days.

Statistics released said the floodwaters left over 9 million people marooned in 38 districts till this afternoon, causing substantial damage to both life, infrastructure and standing crops.

Although the overall flood situation showed a trend of improvement, millions marooned or homeless remained in misery for dearth of foodstuff and drinking water.

The officials said eight more deaths were reported from different districts in the 24 hours.

Over 3,50,000 flood-hit victims have so far taken shelter in 1,515 flood centers.

Standing crops on more than 140,0000 lakh acres of land were fully or partially damaged.

Meanwhile, UNICEF increased its assistance responding to the current floods in Bangladesh and ''pre-positioned'' US 1.8 million dollars worth of foodstuff for the flood victims.

''We've increased assistance quite substantially in several sectors including health, water and sanitation UN is working well together to address the situation,'' UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh Louis-Georges Arsenault told reporters after a meeting with Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.

Arsenault, who will be visiting the flood-hit northern districts from tommorow to assess the relief and rehabilitation works, said it was a very difficult situation where millions of people have been affected.

''We recognise the government role and leadership in all aspects, and we hope that over next several days, we'll be able to ease off the pressure on poor population which is quite suffering from the current flood,'' he said.

To UNICEF official said six to seven million people were affected at various levels, of which one million people were badly affected by the current flooding.

He said it was a difficult task to reach the one million badly affected people and all efforts were being made together with the government to provide food and shelter for these people.

Earlier, the UK had pledged 2.5 million dollars, Canada 2,50,000 dollars, Turkey 1,00,000 dollars and Germany 6,58,000 dollars that to be channeled through the UN agency WFP (World Food Programme).

UNI