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| November 14, 2005 | Monday | Shawwal 11, 1426 |
Getting local communities involved
KARACHI: As the death toll in the October 8 earthquake continues to mount, the government’s decision to give Rs20 billion in compensation to the affected families may sound magnamanous, but will not be a big help in sustainable rehabilitation of more than 3.5 million people and reconstruction of 3,837 km of roads.
According to a damage assessment report considered by the government, 7,197 educational institutions have been destroyed — 3,680 in AJK and 3,517 in the NWFP. Experts are of the view that $10.12 billion will be required for reconstruction. But the estimates of the Planning Commission and the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank vary.
Experts believe that to get an accurate picture, it is essential that units should be formed at the union council level immediately to undertake enumeration and manage reconstruction at the local level. Involvement of local people is essential for plugging loopholes in relief work and preventing wastage and plunder of rehabilitation funds.
The experts think that the emphasis on cash compensation is not right. Instead, building material with just the right quantity should be provided with guidance to the affected people to undertake construction by themselves. Finding ways to reach larger numbers of people and to give priority to the worst affected should be the top priority. The presence of some form of local government at the village level is, therefore, essential.
According to some surveys, the 12 districts hit most by the earthquake had 800,000 housing units, 54 per cent being pucca houses. Rough estimates indicate that 50 per cent of houses have been completely destroyed. Out of the rest there are 30 per cent (120,000) which have been so badly damaged that it is dangerous to live in them. These will have to be demolished. Some 8,000 registered schools have collapsed. Normally the number of madressahs and private schools is one-fourth that of registered schools. With this ratio the number of madressahs and private schools wiped out should be 2,000. This means that about 520,000 or say 550,000 houses and 10,000 schools have to be rebuilt. Besides these there were hospitals and a whole network of roads and bridges infrastructure.
This task cannot be completed with the resources of the government or with all the available/promised/expected foreign aid. Self-reliant strategies will have to be devised and applied, and it would be a mistake to get this work or part of this work done through contractors. This would result in a lot of money going into the pockets of contractors, suppliers and government officials besides resulting in poor construction, awaiting another disaster.
There were villages where land ownership was on a shamilat basis. There were also small villages which were in fact farmlands with eight or 10 houses/huts, each belonging to those who tilled those farms. There were also semi-nomadic elements. Experts believe that the existing land settlement should not be interfered with. People should retain their house locations except in areas where the quake has split up and destabilized the ground. It would be dangerous to build structures on such land.
The rural economy in the areas is subsistence agricultural/pastoral. Maize is grown in autumn and wheat in summer (depending on altitude) but not in sufficient quantity to call it organized agricultural activity. At higher altitudes, potatoes are grown. The harvest has survived at lower altitudes. On the higher altitudes crops were grown on terraced farmlands. A large part of the area’s economy is linked with remittances, both from outside the country and from large urban centres like Karachi and Lahore where at least one or two members of most families are working.
The cost of taking up construction material to the hills will be prohibitive. Local material should be used for constructing quake-proof houses. These houses should be easy to build. The population themselves should be able to build these houses with marginal help from trained masons and carpenters.
The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), part of Aga Khan Development Network, has already constructed thousands of houses in the Gilgit/Hunza areas. No damage was suffered by these houses in earthquake. A similar type of construction can be adopted to build earthquake proof schools and hospitals.
Local people have to be trained in this “easy-to-learn” technology. Four or five villages have to be taken up as a model, where besides reconstruction based on quake-proof technology, people should also be trained. Government should provide in sheets/insulation/cement/trusses for roofs material/design/craftsmen, free of cost instead of giving cash. Building material yards should be established at union council level and material should be issued from there through an advisory team. Pre-fabricated or hightech housing can only be on a very small level. The bulk of affected people would still be left homeless, experts say. They also advise that micro-credits for purchase of fodder and buying animals and agricultural loans should be organized.
If model villages on these lines are reconstructed and people trained in using earthquake-proof technology, they should serve as the starting point for a massive rebuilding effort in the affected areas.
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