Diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases and starvation loomed large for the flood-hit people in 41 districts, where the flooding turned catastrophic destroying crops on hundreds of acres, overflowing roads, railroads and flood control dams.

Executive Engineer Selim Bhuiyan of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre told The Daily Star that floodwaters are gradually receding from the north and northeast, piling pressure on the central districts.

The flood situation may improve when the water level in the fast-rising Meghna river in Chandpur comes down, he said, adding the Meghna is flowing 92 cm above the danger mark, overtaking records.

Overnight river navigation to the south became unsafe as most rivers burst their banks. Beacons and other signals needed for safe navigation on river routes went out of order or were washed away.

Boats replaced rickshaws and other vehicles in parts of Dhaka where filthy waters gushing from the collapsed sewerage system merged with floodwaters and inundated more streets and houses, blighting the normal life in the city of over 13 million.

Official news agency BSS reports: The floods hit 51 of Dhaka City Corporation's 90 wards, including Motijheel business hub and Gulshan and Banani forcing 2,52,000 people to take refuge in 206 DCC makeshift shelters.

The flood warning centre reported a further rise of 4 cm in the Buriganga that was flowing 62 cm above the danger level. The Turag that recorded a rise of 11 cm was flowing 128 cm above the danger level.

Reuters said the floods in Bangladesh, eastern India and Nepal have washed away tens of thousands of houses, cut road and rail links, damaged crops and shut hundreds of factories.

The train service on Sylhet-Dhaka and Dhaka-Chittagong routes run the risk of collapse as railroads at many points went under water. The trains in operation are running at least two hours behind schedule.

But Divisional Transportation Officer Belal Uddin of Bangladesh Railway said no more rail links would snap in the coming days, if the situation remains stable.

MEMORY COMES BACK

This year's floods evoke the memories of the 1988 devastating deluge that killed about 3,500 people.

Our Jahangirnagar University correspondent said raging floodwaters are gushing through several points on Dhaka-Ashulia Highway, submerging fresh areas in Ashulia and Savar.

The road link with the capital on Dhaka-Ashulia route runs the risk of collapse as the Turag river continued to swell yesterday. The Bangshi river is swelling 70cm above the danger level at Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Area.

About 70 percent of mills and factories in Savar municipality went 4 to 5 feet under water and most villages near Amin Bazar have remained up to 10 feet under water.

Nasrin, 8, Shahin, 6, Shihab, 11, and two other unidentified schoolboys drowned in floodwaters in the last two days in Savar, raising the death toll to nine.

Saiful, 7, son of Abdur Rahim in Badurula village in Barisal died on Sunday afternoon as he fell from a raft fashioned out of banana trees, spiking the death count in flooding to nine in a week, our Barisal correspondent reports.

Direct road links between Agailjhara and other parts of the country snapped as highways went under floodwater and culverts were damaged.

Direct highway links between five districts in Barisal Division and other parts of the country are under serious threat of collapse as the flood water level reached the highways.

The flood situation in seven upazilas in Bogra remained unchanged, but the water levels in the Jamuna and Bangali rivers have been falling.

Three more people have died in floodwater since Sunday raising the death toll to 26 in Sherpur. The dead were named as Shabuj Hossain, 2, son of Shanwar Hossain, in Machpara village, Siddiqur Rahman, 45, in Charpara village in Sribordi upazila and the 8-year-old daughter of Insan Ali in Munshirchar village in Sadar upazila.

According to the Deputy Commissioner's Office, 800 tonnes of rice sanctioned by the higher authority was distributed among the flood-affected people in 52 unions in Sherpur.

However, some flood victims marooned in low-lying areas in Sadar upazila said they did not receive any relief.

The flood situation in Manikganj showed a little improvement as the Jamuna and Kaliganga fell at Aricha and Tora points. Still, most houses, businesses and government offices remained 2 to 3 feet under water and road links between the district headquarters and five upazilas were cut off.

The Brahmaputra river that swelled 3 cm yesterday was flowing 59 cm above the danger mark, worsening the flood situation in Mymensingh.

The floods that stranded about two million people in the central district of Brahmanbaria remained unchanged and 2,25,000 flood-hit people were crammed into 492 shelters there.

The floods in Kotalipara in Gopalganj worsened, as fresh areas were submerged after a flood control embankment collapsed in part.