DHAKA, July 29: The flood situation in Dhaka deteriorated further on Thursday, while the situation in the northern districts of Bangladesh improved further.

The water level rose by 4 centimetres in different parts of Dhaka city on Thursday, said the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre in Dhaka, adding that the situation continued to improve slowly in the northern districts including Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvi Bazar, Comilla, Netrokona, Habiganj, Kurigram, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Bogra and Naogaon.

The situation remains unchanged in Munshiganj, Narayanganj and Chandpur. Water at 24 points out of 86 is still flowing above the danger level, although the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Ganges-Padma continued to fall at all points.

The devastating flood has so far taken at least 475 lives and left a trail of destruction across much of the country. Flood-hit people across the country continued to suffer from the fallout of the devastating deluge. Their plight worsened due to the scarcity of relief materials, pure drinking water and firewood.

Five more people died and around 7,000 were hospitalized across the country as the outbreak of diarrhoea worsened on Thursday. Five people died of diarrhoea and around 5,500 were hospitalized on Wednesday. And four people had died and over 4000 were hospitalised on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Food and Disaster Management Minister, Chowdhury Kamal ibne Yusuf, told reporters that the international community had responded positively and started providing relief materials for flood victims. "It has also promised support for post-flood rehabilitation programmes."

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has already called for international assistance for post-flood rehabilitation, prompting the World Food Programme to announce that it will feed five million flood-affected people till March 2005 from August this year.