"We are concerned about the affected people living at the flood shelters and under open sky. I urge the donors and the international communities to continue to be generous," Douglas Broderick, WFP representative in Bangladesh, told The Daily Star.

The current flood situation however is not as severe as that of 2004, 1998 or 1988, Douglas said. “It is good for us that the flood has not reached the level of disaster, but emergency."

Loss of over 150 lives is a matter of concern, but the number of affected people is comparatively less than that of 2004 when 30 to 40 million people were affected, the WFP representative observed.

Expressing concern over the flood damage, he said it is very difficult for the people to offset the loss as their houses and movable properties have been lost and crops go under water.

The top priority should be to provide the flood victims with food and drinking water, Douglas said, adding that WFP and Unicef have initiated distribution of 127 tonnes of biscuits worth $120,000 and started transporting those to Kurigram, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Jamalpur and Manikganj districts.

The supplies include BP5 nutritious biscuits for children aged 6 to 35 months, pregnant women and lactating mothers, and high-energy biscuits for adult people.

"These ready-to-eat biscuits, which are expected to be distributed among 212,000 flood-affected people, provide essential food and nutrition," Douglas noted.

He said the UN officials are assessing the damage and helping the flood victims in coordination with the government. "Once the flood recedes, they will have many other problems when they need to build houses. Farmer will need seeds and other supports," he said.

Asked if the UN agencies and NGOs have any problem in their relief operations during the emergency period of the country, he said the government has made it very clear and there should not be any hesitation for anyone. All should extend their helping hand, he noted.

Asked how UN will help in case there are more severe floods in next few weeks, he said, "We are there to assist people. We shall ask quick appeals to the donors and international communities."

Capacity building of people, creating flood awareness, dredging rivers and diversion canals and construction of necessary embankments are more important to give a kind of sustainable solution to flooding problems, Douglas suggested.

"This is an ideal approach to emergency response by joining strengths of various UN agencies to achieve the common goal of reducing the sufferings of people in distress," said Unicef representative in Bangladesh, Louis-Georges Arsenault.