The Bangladesh Government has increased relief operations in the country's flood-stricken north, providing emergency food and clothing for nearly a million people. Officials said that the flood situation was out of control, but the immediate problem was to give shelter to the homeless.

SYNOPSIS: The floods have washed away an estimated three hundred thousand homes. The disaster followed heavy rains which caused the country's nine major rivers to break their banks, flooding massive areas. Waters have subsided in other regions of the country, but large parts of the northern area are still under water. In some places like the Bogra region about 100 miles (16 kilometres) north of the capital, Dacca, flood waters were spreading. The Government, meanwhile, said it would not ask for foreign aid as could provide the necessary relief itself.

Inoculation campaigns were started in the stricken areas to prevent epidemics. There's always a major fear of cholera in flood disasters - the disease can travel very quickly in unhygienic conditions, and can be spread even more rapidly by water. Emergency food kitchens were also a high priority.

Nearly 200 relief camps have been set up. The disaster has been compounded by the destruction of a large ??? part of the country's jute harvest - a major crop.