MANSEHRA, July 20: Thousand of earthquake affected families have been waiting restlessly for the housing and monthly compensation amounts as the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) and the army closed down their fields and regional offices in October 8 earthquake devastated districts due to deteriorating law and order situation in the NWFP, Dawn has learnt officially.

The Erra and the army had suspended their field and offices activities in earthquake-hit districts of Mansehra, Abbottabad, Battagram, Kohistan and Shangla just following the launching the Lal Masjid and Hafsa operation in Islamabad on July 3, resulting in spreading the unrest among thousands of earthquake families who were still waiting for compensation amount and other ambiguities in the Mutual Understanding Forms dually signed by the victim family and Erra.

The regional office of Erra in Gazikot Township, Mansehra, which was ransacked on July 3 just after the military operation against the Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa clerics, male and female students, is till not functioning.

As a result of which reconstruction work of governmental projects, most of them of education, health, roads and infrastructure, are suspended as despite clearance and monitoring of the Erra the contractor cannot carry on the work.

Thousands of families were waiting for the clearance of their MU forms in the field offices established in the respective areas as thousands of the MU forms were missing the names of victims, identity card number, no record, account duplication, correct bank account number and branch.

A woman quake victim from Balakot told this correspondent that in the MU form, her account number was missing but despite the corrections so many times she could not get the housing compensation amount of her damaged house, adding but now after the closure of field and regional offices of Erra it seemed that: “We will never be able to get the compensation amount”.

An official at the field office in Mansehra, which is set up for the corrections of MU forms for severely quake-hit union councils of Balakot, Gari Habibullah, Hangrai, Kaghan, Mahandri Shawal Mahazullah, Karnol, Tilhatta, four city union councils of Mansehra, Rural, Attershisha, Jallo, Laberkot, Parain, Datta, and Behali union councils, told that due to tense law and order situation the field office had suspended its activities on July 3.

He said that over 800 MU forms with various errors were brought here daily by quake victims families for the corrections. Four platoons of the army which were carrying out survey of over 0.3 million partially-reconstructed houses to give the NOCs for disbursement of last instalment of compensation amount, had already suspended their activities.