CHITRAL: The earthquake survivors of Drosh town and surrounding villages continued the sit-in in Mirkhani area against denial of compensation for the sixth day on Monday.

A convoy of around 300 calamity-hit people had marched towards Arandu border area on last Tuesday for entering Afghanistan against the district administration’s failure to offer them compensation despite repeated requests of compensation. However, they had staged a sit-in in Mirkhani, some 20km down Drosh town, after bring stopped by the law-enforcement agencies from moving on.

Led by former union council nazim Abdul Bari and social activists Mohtaram Shah and Qari Nizamuddin, the protesters have encamped themselves on the roadside.

They said they would go to Afghanistan after getting the permission to proceed. Mr. Bari told Dawn from Mirkhani over the telephone that the calamity survivors suffered huge losses in the last October’s earthquake but didn’t receive a single penny from the government as compensation.

He said a large number of the affected people had yet to reconstruct houses and that they spent the tough winter season in tents.

“The district administration is employing delaying tactics for the payment of compensation to the dismay of quake survivors. The situation forced them to register their protest forcefully,” he said. The former nazim said the affected people had staged a sit-in in Drosh Bazaar for five months but the government didn’t take notice and even the district administration ‘looked down upon’ them.

He alleged that the district administration had committed massive anomalies in the distribution of compensation cheques soon after the earthquake struck the region.

Mr. Bari said the administration officials doled out compensation to favourites completely ignoring the deserving people.

When contacted, Chitral DC Osama Ahmad Warraich denied the protesters’ allegation and insisted village elders were part of the preliminary assessment of damages on the basis of which compensation was disbursed to the earthquake survivors. He said the administration sent fresh requests for compensation to the PDMA for funds, which were awaited.

“The new compensation applicants will be paid as soon as the money is received. The district government is not in a position to compensate them on its own,” he said. Mr. Warraich said the administration was in constant contact with protesters to persuade them to call off the strike.

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2016