BALAKOT, Jan 10: The people of Balakot, one of the towns devastated by the October 2005 earthquake, continue to suffer because the official promise to provide them shelters is yet to be fulfilled. And the biting cold that is gripping the region these days has worsened their plight.

Although Erra claims of having provided shelters to 90 per cent of the quake-affected people, the reality is that not more than 20 per cent of them have got something in the name of shelter.

Bazaars have been revived and life is normal to the extent that people are selling and buying essential commodities. Most of the business is occupied by outsiders as the locals are unable to revive their business owing to lack of finances.

Although most of the victims have received their share in compensation for their dead relatives and destroyed houses, they remained under severe financial and psychological pressure.

During a visit to the town, this correspondent found that most of the quake-affected people who migrated to other towns and cities are yet to return because of delay in the erection of shelters, an ambitious project of which Saudi Arabia had taken responsibility.

The tehsil nazim office estimated that about 5,000 shelters would be sufficient for the surviving families of Balakot and its periphery, and the local authorities were given an assurance that the project would be completed by the end of December 2006.

"First of all the design and size of the shelter are of low standard and these too are yet to be given formal approval by the authorities," said Tahir, younger brother of the Balakot union council nazim.

“Whatever you are witnessing in the name of construction most of it was done by the victims themselves on self-help basis, as the Erra authorities have failed to provide even sufficient guidance to the people about mode of construction,” he added.

The size of a shelter (in feet) as agreed between the Saudi government and the contractors is 20x24, including two rooms of 11x10, a small kitchen and a tiny bathroom, which most of the people feel would be insufficient to accommodate their families.