June 22, 2007	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1428

ISLAMABAD, June 21: Panelists at an interactive discussion on Thursday stressed the need for capacity-building of local government institutions in the quake-hit areas. They said trained human resources with all needed equipment should be made available at the tehsil level to deal with natural calamities in an effective manner in future.

It was pointed out during the discussion tiled, ‘Disaster Watch,’ arranged by the Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI) and the Practical Action South Asia that the October 2005 earthquake destroyed more than 1,902 water supply and sanitation schemes in the NWFP and 1,978 schemes in AJK.

Panelists, which included a representative from the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) said that almost total infrastructure of water and sanitation had been destroyed in the earthquake.

Zaheer Hussain Gardezi, Director Water and Sanitation Erra, said the rehabilitation of water and sanitation schemes was undertaken in three phases. During the first phase, internally displaced people were provided drinking water. The second phase was implemented under the early recovery plan, while the last phase, currently in progress, is resource rehabilitation.

He said the government coordinated with local and international NGOs and other local partners to ensure quality control at every phase and timely completion of the rehabilitation work.

Ismat Saeed of Oxfam observed that difficult terrain made rehabilitation of water and sanitation more challenging, nevertheless better coordination between government and non- governmental organizations helped overcome obstacles.

Responding to a question, Zaheer Gardezi said ‘Build Back Better’ was not confined to the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure only, it would go beyond it and meet all future needs of the affected communities. He said there were 28 organizations working on water and sanitation.

The Pakistan Council for Research on Water Resources (PCRWR) is providing technical support to all these organizations. A team of professionals have done research in collaboration with the communities of Rawlakot, Mansehra, Batagram and Neelum. They are now working to find out localised solution of the problems.

Sardar Ishtiaque, from Bagh, rejected the Erra official’s statement and asserted that only in Bagh there were 100 water supply schemes and not a single one of the damaged schemes had been rehabilitated completely.

Moreover, drinking water in Bagh and its surroundings is contaminated with 30 per cent urea and a large number of villagers were suffering from hepatitis and jaundice, especially in the area of Abbaspur.