However, waters in Dhaka and Bangladesh's midriff may take sometime to recede. We may not be out of the woods just yet. A depression is building in the Bay and a full moon gravitational pull is on the card. Until August 15, we need to keep our fingers crossed.

Now, this is a trying situation. People who have been long stranded in flood waters will come out and rush to the relief centres. The contact between the flood-stricken and the relief seekers will be direct for the first time. As a result, our relief distribution mechanism will be just as much under pressure as the demands for rehabilitation support will be stupendous.

Are we prepared to cater for the heightened needs for relief and rehabilitation? The donors in their latest assessment report have stated that 'the level of assistance provided by all actors to-date falls far short of the genuine food needs of the most vulnerable, the affected people.'

Water-borne diseases are likely to break out in an epidemic form. Chlorinated water, ORS sachets , medicines and vaccines must be kept handy. Medical teams have, hopefully, taken up positions in different parts of the country. A degree of volunteerism will have to be encouraged.

That said, we turn to the urgent rehabilitation tasks. People need to be helped to rebuild their homes and resume their vocations at the earliest. There has been a tremendous productivity slump, which is likely to tell upon demand-supply equilibrium. Our exports from the RMG sector will need back-up support.

The first task is to rejuvenate agriculture under a special rehabilitation programme to be featured largely by inputs support. The small and medium industries have been the worst-hit; their recovery should be a matter of priority concern. The trade and chamber body leaders should be consulted on that.

Damages wrought to the education sector have been appalling. Thousands of schools and hundreds of colleges were inundated sending them into a limbo for a good part of the academic session. They must be helped back to their feet.

Last but not least, we face the formidable task of repairing the infrastructure of roads, bridges and culverts. The estimated cumulative loss surpasses the size of the national budget. Let's face it, the disaster has upset our calculations, and to that extent the nation should be fully galvanised, cutting across partylines, behind the gigantic task of reconstructing it back to shape.