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| October 10, 2005 | Monday | Ramzan 5, 1426 |
Relief package raised to Rs5bn
ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that the devastating earthquake which struck the country on Saturday flattened over 70 per cent houses in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The confirmed death toll has crossed 19,000.
Addressing a press conference after attending an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday, he said that the cabinet had declared three-day mourning and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had increased the relief package from Rs1 billion to Rs5 billion.
The cabinet will meet daily to review the situation and the meeting will be followed by a press briefing to keep people informed about developments.
The package announced by the prime minister, Mr Sherpao said, would be used for paying compensation of Rs100,000 to the family of every deceased and for repair of road and communication network in the quake-hit areas.
The cabinet, he said, had declared an emergency in the country and sought monetary and technical assistance from abroad to meet the challenging task of rehabilitating quake-affected people and repairing road and communication network in the AJK and Northern Areas.
He said overseas Pakistanis of dual nationality and having the National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicop) and even those who did not have the card could come to the country without obtaining visa.
The governments of the UK and other countries have been requested to arrange chartered flights to Pakistan so that overseas Pakistanis and philanthropists come to the country.
The minister said that all road connections and phone contacts with the AJK and Northern Areas had been completely severed and rescue teams had no access to many areas. The only way to reach the hard-hit areas to provide food, tents and blankets to the affected people is the use of helicopter. He said that 200 satellite public call offices were being set up in the areas for smooth communication.
LOSS OF LIFE: Giving details about losses of life on the basis of reports received by the government, he said that overall 19,136 people had died and 42,397 injured. But the number is constantly increasing.
Mr Sherpao said the highest number of casualties were reported from the AJK where 17,388 deaths had been confirmed and the number of injured was stated to be 40,421. “Over 14,000 people died only in Muzaffarabad,” he added.
The minister said that in Islamabad 19 people died and 94 suffered injuries when a 10-storey building collapsed. The number of casualties in the NWFP was 1,760 dead and 1,797 injured and in Punjab 11 dead and 83 injured. Two people died and two others received injuries in the Northern Areas.
He said that bodies were being brought from the AJK to the Rawalpindi Race Course Ground by helicopters and being shifted to other places for burial.
CASUALTIES OF TROOPS: The interior minister said that so far 200 armymen had died - 114 of them in Muzafarabad and 86 in Rawalakot and Bagh.
The number of injured troops was 450, 200 in Muzaffarabad and 250 in Rawalakot and Bagh.
RELIEF OPERATION: Mr Sherpao said the army and civil forces had started rescue and relief operations in the worst affected areas in the AJK and the Northern Areas with 19 M17 and 10 Bell helicopters. Cooked food, water, blankets and tents are being air-dropped in these areas by C-130 planes,” he said.
The ministry of interior has provided its four helicopters for the rescue and relief operation.
He said a team of dedicated officers had been constituted to make aerial assessments of the damage and to ascertain the extent of losses of life and property.
Ten trucks loaded with relief goods have been sent to the AJK and a similar number of trucks have been dispatched for Hazara division.
Mr Sherpao said the Balakot-Kaghan road, Kaghan-Naran road, Pattan-Chalas-Gilgit road and Kohala-Muzaffarabad road had not been opened while the Murree-Kohala road, Koliar-Rawalakot road, Garhi Habibullah-Muzaffarabad road had been cleared by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO), National Highway Authority (NHA) and Army Engineers for light traffic.
Mr Sherpao said the cabinet had lauded the spirit and dedication of volunteers and college students who were working day and night in rescue operations and donating blood in hospitals.
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