Villages in Hazara are still suffering from the effects of the devastating earthquake that recently left its poor homeless
CHILDREN were playing and women folk were going about their daily chores when earthquake struck. And in its grip were the Hazara districts of Mansehra and Batgram.
Up to 26 died and many more were injured. In the Alai area of the neighbouring Batgram district, a mountain slide buried 13 people inside a pick-up van. Mud and thatched houses collapsed without putting up much resistance as people were left to fend for themselves under the open sky. And with the careless attitude of concerned authorities in full-swing, many of them are still fighting the cold in the mountains.
The northern areas of Pakistan are well known for their volatile earth movements. Earthquakes have struck this region before and shall do again. And yet, the government remains oblivious to the needs of the area.
In the aftermath of the jolts, the fragile communications infrastructure too proved a nuisance as they proved worthless during the course of the rescue efforts. The aftershocks didn’t spare the supposedly rock-firm Mansehra to Naran and Jalkhad (MNJ) Road either, a proud labour of fruit of the Frontier Works Organisation in Kaghan Valley. Fissures and cracks mock at the lofty claims of the builders of the MNJ Road. While the human toll was irreparable, the economic activity of the area too received a severe setback and hotels in Kaghan Valley closed due to damaged structures.
The epicentre of the earthquake, according to seismologist Mahmood Ahmad of the Peshawar Seismic Centre, was 200 kilometres north-east of Peshawar. The earthquake was of 5.7 and 5.5 Richter scale. Though the tremors weren’t that powerful, they managed to cause massive destruction because of the movement of earth-plates at a depth of just 10 kilometres below the surface.
At least 46 villages in union council Hungrai and as many in union council Kawai have been badly rummaged by the tremors. The eight-kilometre link road from village Paras of union council Kawai to village Bela Sacha of union council Hungrai has been totally shackled while damages done by the quake in the adjoining areas are still unreported due to lack of communications.
Though the village Paras of union council Kawai, alongside the Kaghan Valley Road is the reflective evidence of the devastation caused by the earthquake, areas of Hungrai on the other side of the rampaging Kunhar River are the worst effected and remain unnoticed due to remoteness in the higher altitude.
Some 500 families in the unnoticed Bela Sacha area of Hungrai Union Council are reported to have been left with no option but to live under the open sky in sub-zero temperatures. More than a dozen schools and health units in both the union councils have either been completely collapsed or partially damaged.
But despite of all the suffering of the people of the area, the relief operation as usual is moving at a snail’s pace. The tall claims that were made by the concerned departments and political figures of the area, have yet to match with the ground realities. Even immediately after the tremors played havoc, no soup kitchens were set up for the effected nor any medical aid was provided to them. The central, provincial and the district governments have paid their usual lip service and promised acceleration of relief operations, but nothing practical has yet been accomplished. A large number of tents and other necessary relief equipment has yet to reach the victims because of a tug of war between different political groups that are looking to exploit the relief work to their end.
Anguished victims of the quake are asking why are the central provincial and the district government are gulling them with their tall claims about provision of relief that are limited to press statements only? Two provincial ministers sent by the NWFP Chief Minister announced Rs100000 each for the dead and Rs20000 each for the injured but not a single penny has been paid so far.
Instead of a limited supply of tents and flour bags, victims are in need of iron bars, cement, zinc sheets and other construction material for them to repair their damaged houses. The ordeal of poor tenants effected by the earthquake having no ownership rights in the forest is quite different from other’s in need. They need permits for exploitation of timber to repair their houses from the government reserved forest.
One victim of earthquake says, “I have nothing left and we have not been helped in any way, by anybody.” Another complains, “A lot of people have suffered. They have seen their houses completely destroyed or damaged so badly that they cannot live in them any more.” Women and children of three or four families have been forced to cram into a single tent while the men are compelled to lie in the open.
People of the effected areas do hope that some real relief from the government will come their way and all talk of help won’t be just a media-show or a publicity stunt. The government spends the major part of its entire budget on non-developmental activities but does not have a single earthquake rescue office, a single professional team trained to help the survivors.
Immediate provision of construction material, food, medicines, blankets and other items of daily use have not been prioritised by the government. Given that the area has a limited road network and is vulnerable to mountain slides, snow and the elements, the authorities should have utilized helicopters, weather permitting, to drop supplies and shift the seriously injured to hospitals. But, yet again, nothing of the sort has been done.
The government must ensure acceleration of the infrastructure development schemes in the quake-prone regions so that the next time in the event of another natural calamity, victims can be provided with timely relief and not left to fend for themselves. The government should also do some work to raise the subsistence level of the residents of the quake-prone regions, enabling them to construct sturdier houses that would be more fortified to withstand an earthquake otherwise discontent against the government will only grow with the scandal round this human tragedy.
Villages in Hazara are still suffering from the effects of the devastating earthquake that recently left its poor homeless 
