CHITRAL: “Last night I received a telephone call from a woman, whose house was destroyed by the earthquake. She had spent the first night under the open sky in the compound of her home basking bonfire but her children were not ready to spend the second night in the same way,” says Maulana Khaliq, a member of charity organisation.

The destroyed house is situated in the town but no relief goods could trickle down to the woman for which she waited all the day and then someone gave her the telephone number of the organisation to which she managed to send her appeal.

“By the time all the shops had been closed down but I managed to get one of the shops opened and provide beds and tents to the affected family. If this is the situation of an affected family in the town, then the plight of people in the remote areas can be imagined,” says Mr Khaliq.

The people affected by earthquake across the district are crying for relief as their food stuff and bedding have been reduced to debris.

Charun Oveer is said to be the worst affected village of the district where 82 houses out of 130 have been razed to the ground. The affected residents of the village have taken refuge in the local worship place of Ismaili sect.

The residents of the village complain that they have not seen any functionary of the government except a police constable, who visited the village to enlist the affected people.

The 12-room newly built house of Inayatuallah Baig, to which he had shifted just a week ago, also reduced to rubble after the jolt. Fortunately his family members remained unhurt as they had moved to an open field.

He says that no relief activities have been started despite the fact that the sub-divisional headquarters of Mastuj (Booni) is just at a distance of five kilometres from the village.

Noorul Islam, a resident of Chitral city, says that he sent a tent, beds and edibles to one of his relatives in Mastuj, who spent the night under the open sky while no relief item was delivered to them by the government.

“What will be the situation of those people, who have no relative in Chitral or have no money to buy necessary items,” he questions and adds that in his own village Kosht, there are tens of people whose homes have been destroyed completely but no relief item has so far been provided to them.

Syed Nazir of Yarkhoon valley says that the damage assessment process, initiated by the district government, is too slow. It will take many weeks but time is running out, he adds.

However, district nazim Maghfirat Shah says that there is no shortage of relief goods but the main problem is lack of logistic facility as it is no possible to reach every nook and corner of the vast area in a short span of time.

He says that the process will be accelerated as the district administration was engaged in making arrangements for the visit of prime minister. The prime minister visited the district headquarters along with the chief minister and announced a number of measures for the amelioration of the affected people.

However, the affected people seem unsatisfied with the announcements of the prime minister, who said that disbursement of relief cheques would be started from Monday next.

Bashir Hussain Azad, a social worker, says that such announcements were also made by the premier in July last when he had come here to sympathise with the people, affected by flash flood.

He says that neither the infrastructures have been restored neither the affected people have been compensated by the government for the losses.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2015

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