ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: As many as 85 local NGOs have formed a joint action committee to coordinate and streamline rescue and relief activities in the earthquake-hit areas.

A spokesman for Pattan Development Organization told Dawn that the committee was coordinating with some foreign NGOs in connection with the supply of relief goods and provision of assistance to the victims.

He said his NGO had rushed three teams to Mansehra and Azad Kashmir to study the scope, nature of damage and assess the need for relief items.

The first “disaster report” was released on the basis of this study which showed “complete failure of the state, looting becoming commonplace in the affected areas, law and order situation, lack of coordination among different government departments and unidentified roles of local government functionaries in disaster mitigation.”

Similarly, it said, relief goods comprised a large quantity of perishable items and there was no guidance to local donors, causing overlapping of relief distribution in few areas. Unprofessional relief distribution is causing social and ethnic tensions in some areas. It also pointed out the absence of female volunteers, doctors, nursing staff and paramedics.

It said there was no exchange of information on available stock of relief goods and there were completely neglected clusters of population on mountain terraces even in the accessible areas.