NOWSHERA/SWABI/MARDAN: The return of internally displaced people to their homes gained momentum on Wednesday when 1277 families left for Swat and Buner districts.

Officials said that 154 families had left the Jalozai camp for Swat and 261 families had gone to Buner from Swabi. The government provided transport to the families, although a large number of IDPs arranged their own. 

The Emergency Response Unit (ERU) announced that after completion of Phase-II of the voluntary return plan ‘Naway Sahar’ on July 16, Phase III for the IDPs living in camps would commence on July 17 and would continue till July 20.

An official statement said that 153 families had gone home from the Yar Hussain camp, 121 families from the Shahmansoor camp, 172 from Jalala camp, 372 from the Sheikh Shahzad camp and 60 from Charsadda. 

It said that 544 families, comprising 2,844 people of Buner, returned from Sheikh Shezad and Jalala relief camps.

The IDPs complained that proper arrangements for transport had not been made for them.

In Jalozai camp, a few families held a demonstration to demand relief goods before embarking on their return journey.

Khaistha Rehman, incharge of the Tehsil Chota Lahor camp, said that the first batch of 98 families comprising 467 people had left and in the second batch, 37 families comprising 222 people returned to Buner.

The IDPs living in Kund Park staged a hunger strike in protest against what they called the failure of the authorities to ensure power supply and provide pedestal fans.

Sources said that about 5,000 displaced people were living in tents in Kund Park on the bank of Indus. The hunger strike continued till the filing of this report and the protesters said it would continue till the acceptance of their demands.

Our Correspondent adds from Mingora: A minor girl on her way back to Swat died because of heat at the Landakai checkpost, some 25 kilometres from here, on Wednesday.

But her mother said that her daughter died because of lack of medical facilities. The family was going to Balogram.

‘There are so many checkposts from Shergarh to Mingora, but I could not find any medical aid for my kid,’ complained the mother while carrying the girl’s body.