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| November 26, 2005 | Saturday | Shawwal 23, 1426 |
Gangs storing relief goods in Muzaffarabad
ISLAMABAD, Nov 25: A number of gangs backed by some political parties and local administration have stored huge quantity of relief goods in various buildings in Muzaffarabad at a time when hundred of thousands of people are not getting any relief in Neelum Valley.
A number of people from various parts of Neelum Valley told Dawn that gangs backed by a religio-political party and some highups from the local administration had stored huge quantities of relief goods at various points in Muzaffarabad.
They appealed to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to form military teams that could raid these points, recover the plundered relief goods and dispatch these to hundreds of thousands of deserving people in Neelum Valley.
They said the earthquake-affected people in Sharda, Rasta, Kohri, Betika, Nausehri, Atmuqam, Lawat, Dunial, Keel, Janwai, Jalmad, Makroon and Taubat areas had not received relief goods so far.
“Winter, which is round the corner, could kill a large number of these people because most of them are facing starvation and living in polyethylene tents that cannot counter bone- chilling weather,” said Malik Abdur Rashid of Sharda while talking to Dawn.
“Ramazan is over but people are still fasting due to unavailability of food,” Abdur Rashid said.
With tears in his eyes, Abdur Rashid said a large number of people including a good number of children were still to be taken out of the debris due to absence of relief teams.
“The debris of our homes are now the graves of our people. My 13-year-old daughter is still buried beneath the debris of my house. You will see mothers still weeping over the debris of their houses under which there dear ones are buried. Is anyone there to take these bodies out,” he asked.
He said military helicopters had only visited Shadra once after the earthquake to sell flour to the affected people but it seemed that their sole aim was to earn money.
He said the armymen had sold a 20kg sack to the people for Rs245. However, people later found that the sacks were not of 20kg but 16kg.
He said military people had cut thousands of precious trees in Sharda to set up two helipads in order to provide relief to the affected people. But they have not yet used these helipads as they never came back to the area.
Mustafa, an affected man from Rasta, said some gangs of unscrupulous elements had beaten people in various parts of Neelum Valley and snatched from them relief goods they were given by some NGOs which managed to reach the areas located on hilltops.
“You get the relief not because you deserve it but you get the relief if you can slap another man and snatch from him the one in his hand,” said Malik Atif, a man from Sharda.
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