April 30, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 29: People of the Balakot tehsil and town who suffered most devastation in last October’s earthquake are now suffering humiliation at the hands of the NWFP government and the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra).

Since the Balakot town had lost 95 per cent of its buildings and 33 per cent of its 40,000 population, Erra has decided to relocate the town to rehabilitate the survivors.

But a fresh survey started by Erra in the name of sifting genuine victims from the survivors already handed out the first instalment of Rs25,000 of compensation is causing confusion and unrest.

An overwhelming majority of the population who live away from their homes to earn a living for their families have started returning to the town to get themselves re-registered with Erra to be counted as victim deserving government’s help for reconstructing their houses.

They feel humiliated when their status is challenged or suspected during the re-registration process.

What irks them most is that the army teams conducting the fresh survey lack powers to enlist those genuine affectees who were left out in the first round of survey.

A three-page form being filled in by the survey teams addresses only those who have already received, rightly or wrongly, the first instalment of compensation and the affected person is made to sign it without being afforded an opportunity to go through its contents.

In all cases, the affected people do not find any change in the scheme of distribution of compensation in the second phase of rehabilitation.

Majority of those living in tents have been evacuated but where they will be resettled has not been made public so far.

Meanwhile, a good number of shops have opened in Balakot but, interestingly, mostly by non-locals. Except for a few shelter schools, no infrastructure facilities have been revived so far.

The provincial government responsible for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the survivors remains aloof and refers every seeker of help to Erra instead.

The absence of a clear-cut policy on rehabilitation is giving rise to rumours such as the area is being evacuated for strategic use by the United States, or that the depopulation of the area would be used as an opportunity to build a dam on the Kunhar river in the area.