London, Jan. 3 - The chief of the Bangladesh army says the country is facing a catastrophe over tight rice supplies, the BBC reports on its Web site Thursday.
Gen Moeen U Ahmed said that he was "very concerned" about the problem which he said must be redressed immediately. Rice is the staple diet of most Bangladeshis, but this year crops have been damaged by heavy monsoon rains.
In addition, prices have risen which he blamed on the global market - India recently raised its price to $500 a metric ton from $425 a ton, the army chief said. Higher transportation costs have also been blamed for the rise, following a damaging monsoon and the aftermath of November's cyclone.
The government says that it is taking measures to tackle the problem, and three ships carrying 107,000 tons of rice arrived at Chittagong - the country's main port - Thursday.
It says that another ship with 10,000 tons of rice will reach the port on Friday and that several more rice-carrying vessels have booked berths for the next two weeks.
Officials say that the government currently has about 600,000 tons of food grains, and that a minimum stock of 1 million tons is needed to meet emergencies such as November's cyclone which killed over 3,300 people and left millions homeless.