Speaking at a press briefing on the latest flood situation at the Chief Adviser's Office, he identified grabbing of canals is the main cause of waterlogging in the capital.

Iqbal said due to flood, DFID has increased its grant by about Tk 14 crore for its ongoing project for rehabilitation of people at char areas in five districts including Kurigram, Jamalpur, Sirajganj and Bogra. Asked if the relief operation suffers jolt in absence of lawmakers, he said relief committee headed by ward commissioners would be formed to strengthen the relief operation.

He held a meeting with the ward commissioners of the city corporations yesterday on dengue and flood.

Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury and officials of the Armed Forces Division also spoke at the briefing.

Iqbal said around 158 pump machines are now in operation in various waterlogged areas in Dhaka and its adjacent areas particularly in DND areas for pumping out the logged water.

He said levels of many tube wells have been raised in flood-hit areas and drinking water is being supplied through different means.

The adviser said some 1.28 crore water purification tablets were sent to the flood-hit areas while 90 lakh tablets remain in stock. Efforts are underway to procure more water purifying tablets.

Adviser Tapan Chowdhury said the overall flood situation improved slightly with recession of water levels in many rivers in last two days.

He said there is no possibility of deteriorating the flood due to depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Tapan said the death toll due to flood-related reasons rose to 156 from 120 till yesterday morning and the total number of flood-affected districts rose to 39 from 38 with addition of newly affected Chandpur district.

Referring to the Met office forecast, he said depression on the northwest Bay will cross Orisha coast today and there may be heavy rains in Chittagong and Khulna.

Tapan said so far 11, 615 metric tonnes of rice, Tk 3.75 lakh in cash, about Tk 1.07 lakh for housing, Tk 38 lakh for buying dry food and Tk 70 lakh for relief and rescue operation were sent to the deputy commissioners of the affected districts.