FORWARD KAHUTA: Situated on the rugged mountains of Pir Panjal range, along the heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC), Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) tiny Haveli district still reels from the horrendous after-effects of flash floods and torrential rains, the situation in the region has worsened due to poor telecommunication and road networks.

Out of the total 64 casualties across AJK, 29 took place in Haveli district alone. Raja Mohammad Irshad, Haveli’s deputy commissioner (DC), told Dawn, “Though rains have stopped but the landslides are continuing, aggravating the plight of the affected people.”

Saeed Qureshi, an official at the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) in Muzaffarabad, told Dawn that the amount of rainfall in Haveli district was a staggering 400 millimetres in a single day, which had no parallel in the past 50 years.Residents of Haveli castigated the government functionaries for their “unending apathy and neglect”. What adds to their anger is the poor telecom network, run by the Special Communications Organisation (SCO) a subsidiary of Pakistan Army, which has limited coverage in the area.

It may be mentioned here that Haveli and Neelum are the two AJK districts where multinational mobile phone companies have not been allowed to launch their operations due to ‘security reasons’.

“Had there been a mobile phone facility the affected persons could have conveyed their plight to the concerned officials and subsequently the rescue operations could have begun instantly,” said local resident Aziz Dar.

Similarly, the poorly maintained road network had also contributed to the suffering of people. Many roads ran through water channels for want of bridges and that was why several casualties had occurred by drowning, he added.

SDMA official Saeed Qureshi agreed that poor telecom network and lack of early warning dissemination system had led to excessive losses in Haveli. “Even if one resident knew wanted to warn others of any threat or needed any help, he was unable to communicate with others,” he said.

DC Irshad said, “The telecommunications and road networks have been two major hurdles in efficient, effective and timely relief and rescue services.”

He said that at the moment the only road link between Forward Kahuta and the rest of AJK was the one through Bagh, but for smaller vehicles only. Heavy traffic would use Abbaspur-Hajira-Rawalakot road, which is still blocked.

“It’s due to the blockage of this road that we are unable to transport tents from Rawalpindi. And if it does not open within 3-4 days, we may also face a food shortage,” he said.

Even the inter-district roads are blocked. Vehicles can not go beyond five kilometres radius of the district headquarters due to the huge landslides.

“Towards my north, road to sub-division Khurshidabad has been wiped out at about 18 spots,” Mr Irshad said, adding that two dozers are working to create a track for small vehicles.

According to him, so far 380 families had been rendered homeless. However, the number is bound to swell, as many affected people have no means to move out of their vulnerable areas.

Masood Rathore, a former MLA from Haveli, said “People have become hostage in these vulnerable areas. The government should send more machines to clear roads or else more casualties may occur,” adding, tents were also badly required for the homeless affectees.

According to Shaikh Arif, an official of a local body here, there was only one civilian health facility for the whole district, with only one doctor. The army run main dressing station was a blessing, he said.

Mohammad Asadullah, an elderly resident of Haveli, recalled that his area used to enjoy all facilities prior to 1947. However, after 1947 a portion of the road via Uri was captured by India.

“From natural to man made calamities, we have suffered and sacrificed a lot. We hope that the governments in Muzaffarabad and Islamabad will offer us some preferential treatment in view of our sacrifices and sufferings,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2014