KARACHI, Oct 11: As earthquake toll continues to rise, and as several organizations are making efforts to send relief goods to the affected parts of Punjab, NWFP, Azad Kashmir, a number of people are making phone calls to newspaper offices, seeking expeditious action for immediate delivery of relief items.
In a number of city mosques, requests have been made by certain groups for provision of shrouds as it was needed badly for burying the dead in parts of Azad Kashmir.
A resident of Korangi, having his relatives in Bagh, Azad Kashmir, told Dawn that a number of villages in Bagh were still awaiting any sort of relief work and there was shortage of food and other necessities of life.
The villages affected by the earthquake included Kharla Abbasian, Chowki, Jehan Band, Fareedabad, Bahbool, Chattar, etc, where residents are still waiting for measures to bury their dead.
He said that a large number of students of a local college were still buried and there was no one to recover them.
Most of the people have either died or left the area. Only government can do something and come to the rescue of the people.
A woman criticized the attitude of the government functionaries and said they were roaming in luxurious cars. Had they reduced their spendings, the amount could have been spent for the poor and suppressed people of the country, she stated, urging the influential, especially bureaucrats, and multi-nationals to do something for the quake-hit people of the country from their pockets.
Meanwhile, a number of responsive youths have left the city to take part in rescue operations in the affected areas.
An educationist said his son and daughters had left for the affected areas to take part in the rescue operation. He said that youths from Karachi should realize the gravity of the situation and take part in the relief operation.
A majority of the people said that they were stunned by the news and the rising death toll which warranted immediate measures by all those who were safe.
Meanwhile, many people are making phone calls to their relatives in the affected parts of the country, and are somehow making their level best to do something for the suffering humanity.
A religious scholar said that in the month of Ramazan when poor people were especially expecting something from the well-to-do, it was time that each and every citizen realized the situation. “Our responsibility has increased in this holy month of Ramazan towards the suffering humanity.”
However, there are reports that certain private schools have been forcing children to donate Rs100 to 200 towards the relief fund set up by their schools.
Some parents have questioned this move by the schools, and said that if the schools were sincere in their efforts, they should donate one to two month tuition fees deducted by them from children towards the earthquake relief fund because many parents have already contributed towards the relief fund through various voluntary organizations.
