MANSEHRA, Sept 12: More than 1,000 survivors of the 2005 earthquake in Balakot tehsil blocked the Mansehra-Balakot road for more than five hours on Wednesday to protest against the withholding of housing compensation.

The amount was to be paid by the Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) and Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) on Wednesday.

Protesters from Garlat, Satbani, Ghanool and Kawai, union councils severely affected by earthquake in 2005, blocked the road by placing heavy rocks and setting tires on fire.

Angry protesters pelted the office of the SRSP with stones but the staff had already evacuated the offices before the protesters reached the venue. Addressing the protesters at the Hassa Bridge in Balakot, Chanzab, Munsif Khan, Qazi Saddiq, Mian Muhammad Siddiq and Abdul Saboor criticised policies of the government and Erra and threatened that if the compensation was not released, they would march towards Islamabad and file a case in the Supreme Court. They said that they were still suffering despite explicit orders of President Pervez Musharraf.

They said that 20240 houses had been flattened in the four union councils and everyone had been paid the first installment of the housing compensation amount of Rs25,000.

Later, the Asian Development Bank gave the task to SRSP and PPAF to disburse the second, third and fourth instalments.

Protesters alleged that these institutions were withholding the compensation by raising objections on the method of reconstruction.

They said that the president had announced compensation for landless survivors but the Erra had not paid anything to more than 6,000 such families, adding that they were still forced to live in makeshift shelters.

They said that vulnerable people and widows had been paid only six instalments of cash grants, adding that these people should be paid the rest of the amount as they had been promised monthly grants for one year.

Protesters dispersed after the Balakot tehsil nazim, Junaid Qasim, assured them that all disputed mattes would be discussed on Sept 15 in the presence of the senior officials of Erra, NGOs and the district government.