ISLAMABAD, Jan 6: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would begin distribution of 40,000 stoves and kerosene in both planned and spontaneous camps of earthquake survivors from Saturday, a UNHCR spokesman said on Friday. These stoves would be delivered to the NWFP and AJK governments for distribution among the quake survivors.

The distribution of these stoves were earlier held up for sometime as the army was reluctant to permit their use in camps because of the danger of fire.

Cautious of tent fires, the NWFP government has opted to set up communal heating centres in camps. UNHCR will help to erect these structures with big tents provided by NGOs. The communal heating centres will have about 40 stoves and hold 200 people each.

In Azad Kashmir, UNHCR will distribute stoves to individual tents due to a lack of space for communal heating centres. UNHCR is also starting an awareness campaign on fire safety and prevention by providing leaflets on the fire usage in camps.

“We’re also supplementing the military’s efforts to provide fire extinguishers and buckets filled with sand in case of fire,” the spokesman said.

Winter in earthquake region came late but with a vengeance, unleashing over the past weekend three days of rain and snow on people already suffering after the October 8 earthquake. The rain and snow made the victims more vulnerable to diseases particularly acute respiratory infections. It is also being feared that the intense cold would result in more casualties.

The severe cold wave has plunged night-time temperatures below zero, with -2 degrees Celsius recorded in Muzaffarabad and -13 degrees in the highest villages. Next week is expected to bring more rain and snow to the quake zone.

UNHCR, which has responsibility for camp management within the UN team, is currently supporting the Pakistan government and non-governmental organizations in 139 earthquake relief camps, 26 of them planned and 113 spontaneous sites. Altogether, these camps are housing more than 137,000 people left homeless by the quake.

Despite bad weather, no mass movements from the mountains and upper valleys down to camps at lower elevations have been witnessed. This could be because of enough supplies of food, shelter and blankets to the earthquake survivors to stay where they are; or simply because the roads are blocked by landslides.

Nevertheless, stand-by preparations are in place to receive 50,000 more people in camps, if necessary. Together with the government, existing camps like Meira and Havelian have been set expanded, and new camps like Bakrial and Haripur have been set up.