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| October 17, 2005 | Monday | Ramzan 12, 1426 |
Bagh in chaos amidst looting of relief goods
BAGH, Oct 16: Absence of local and district administration has added to the burden on the army in its ongoing rescue and relief efforts in the quake-ravaged area, while unruly behaviour of some of the politically motivated elements and local aid seekers is discouraging volunteers and private donors.
This was noticed by this reporter while visiting Bagh along with a 30-member team of volunteers and donors from Gujar Khan.
The ravages of earthquake are colossal in the remotely located areas of the district. Initially, there were no road links to far-flung localities like Haji Pir, Nerian, Sank, Chattar one and Chattar two, Basoti, Kharbasian, Mahmood Gali, Uppar, Lohar Bela, Paddar, Nagal and Dhak. But now army bulldozers have cleared 90 per cent roads, said Maj Abid, who was present at a relief camp set up amidst the rubble of the army buildings in the Bagh district headquarters.
Right from Rawalakot to Bagh, scattered groups of locals standing on roadside tried to intercept our caravan. However, the vigilance of 30 volunteers accompanying the trucks loaded with relief goods helped steer the caravan safely through the mob chanting religious slogans.
In Bagh city, rumours were circulating that Edhi workers and some traders, who had brought in the relief goods, were beaten up.
On Friday afternoon, a group of traders from Lahore brought two trucks of relief goods. As they started distributing the items, some miscreants threw salt and chilly powder in the eyes of one of the volunteers, who was instantly rushed to the nearby army camp for first aid.
The organizers of the relief team told this reporter that they had brought the goods all the way from Lahore with great sincerity for the victims, but the behaviour of the locals was quite discouraging.
Later on a least two army personnel were also thrashed by the miscreants. The locals, while commenting on the incident, said such acts on part of a small number of unwise and selfish people were highly deplorable and they feared that it would scare the generous donors away, who were pouring in to personally distribute the relief goods here.
A number of volunteers and some locals lauded the role of Pakistan army and advised philanthropists to hand over the goods to the army’s 7th Brigade camp for onward distribution to the deserving people to avoid snatching and looting by the unscrupulous elements.
Col Amjad, who was also present at the army’s camp, told this reporter that army was facilitating the private donors by giving them two options for proper distribution of relief goods. The first option was to hand over the items at the army’s camp, where the troops were distributing the goods through a proper procedure. The second option was to request deputation of three to four army personnel to escort the caravan to the hard-hit areas, he added.
We, however, went for the second option and were escorted to Sehri Village, where affected people of Barikot Village were also brought. However, despite the presence of army personnel, we had to stop distribution many times as people continued to quarrel among themselves.
Siraj Shaukat Mirza, a resident of Gujar Khan, who also led a caravan of relief goods and volunteers to Bagh, said his trucks were intercepted by locals and volunteers of a religious party at Rawalakot.
However, he refused to unload the goods and, on the indication of an elderly man, took his team to Ban Eek Village where about 70 houses had been razed.
Some of the locals in Bagh area revealed that majority of the aid seekers in the urban areas were busy collecting items well beyond their needs, depriving other needy people. Selling of collected goods was also noticed as many shopkeepers were seen counting the packets of sugar, pulses, and other items at night time.
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