Behind effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures is a mindset: small, incremental efforts that add up to form an effective management system. Why have we been unable to develop one?

End of an Erra?

By Hassan Belal Zaidi

Although the earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation authority has been marked for disbanding by the prime minister, it would need an act of parliament to do so

For the people of Balakot, who have survived two devastating earthquakes by now, the real enemy is not Mother Nature, but the hollow promises of reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Willed into existence by former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) and the Federal Relief Commission (FRC) swung into action in the aftermath of Oct 8, 2005.

But just over a decade later, the body’s most ambitious project — the construction of New Balakot City at Bakrial —remains a pipedream.

For Miguel Loureiro, a former researcher at the LUMS Research & Information Systems for Earthquakes in Pakistan (RISEPAK) project who worked extensively in Kashmir after the 2005 earthquake, it is the ad-hocism that plagued Erra from the start that has proven to be its undoing.

“Rehabilitation is not like relief work ... local populations must be involved if the reconstruction and rehabilitation work is to have any lasting impact. Unfortunately, we saw that communities and local governments were completely absent from the response to the 2005 quake,” he says.

Loureiro’s criticism is not misplaced.

Since its inception, Erra was run by military men and continues to be a department where even the civilian government of today understands that it must appoint one serviceman to the post of deputy chairman.

Hamid Yar Hiraj, the first civilian head of Erra, quit his post in 2013. When he was given the job in 2010, he was a key PML-Q legislator in a house where the incumbent PPP needed their support. In fact, many derided the decision to hand over the authority to such an obviously political choice.

But things didn’t change with his departure. In July 2013, soon after the PML-N won the general elections, there was a move within the party to install Captain Mohammad Safdar — the PM’s son-in-law — as the head of Erra. However, nothing became of that proposal.

Then, a cabinet meeting held in November 2014 examined proposals to disband the authority, which many felt had become redundant in the presence of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Ministry of Climate Change.

The meeting discussed the possibility of not giving Erra any new projects and allowing it to complete ongoing ones till the end of 2015, by when its responsibilities would be transferred to other departments.

But since the PPP made Erra a statutory body through an act of parliament, it would take another act to disband it. Since that meeting in November 2014, the ruling party has been busy fire-fighting the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf threat inside and outside parliament and has not bothered following through on its plan to dissolve Erra.

Hiraj says that the government should make up its mind about the authority and either disband it, or at the very least, appoint a chairman. Incidentally, Erra has been headless since Hiraj left. Compounding the administrative quagmire, there has not been a deputy chairman since September 2015.

Sticking up for the authority, however, Sardar Mohammad Yousaf — cabinet minister and MNA for Balakot — blames the provincial government for the shortcomings in reconstruction activities in his constituency. But locals know that if the centre wanted work to continue, there was no way the province could drag its feet.

Post-quake assessment: what is to be done?

By Fahim Zaman

While the state machinery scrambles to find quick fixes, there are basic relief and rescue measures that have yet to be put in place

Can you imagine a shortage of kaffan (white cloth used as shroud) for the dead? Of the many gory realities of post-disaster relief work, this is merely the tip of the iceberg.

But who decides what is being demanded by those affected by natural disasters or indeed what supplies are running short?

In principle, it is the government, but in times of disasters, governments tend to become the first to collapse.

The foremost priority in times of disaster needs to be reinstating and empowering the local administration. Restoring administration does not entail baton charging a populace that is already desperate; it is about ensuring that the state can perform its functions (for the betterment of people) again.

One of the most significant differences between the earthquake in 2005 and the one last week is that this time, a democratic government is at the helm of affairs. Predicting earthquakes is a rudimentary science at this moment in time; it is only through our response that we can cushion the blow.

In 2005, many disaster tourists headed to the north to help. Nobody had any idea about what to do, where they’d stay, or even where they’d find food. In one area, we met a deputy inspector general of police asking for a tent. It emerged that his home had been destroyed and his family too were out on the street.

Do we have a plan or a standard operating procedure about re-establishing order?

Karachi, for example, is sitting on a ticking time bomb with its nuclear power plants. Now suppose that an earthquake jolts Karachi. What will the commissioner do? What will his subordinates do? How will the provincial disaster management authority get involved? Who will deal with whom?

No procedures have been established, even though it is only the state that has the capacity or the assets to respond to crisis. In some areas, it might be democratic dispensations; in others, it could be the military or para-military forces.

In fact, in the first two days after the quake, did the NDMA organize a press briefing? What is the protocol between the NDMA and the various PDMAs? Erra has great offices and infrastructure, but do they have feasible plans, including evacuation plans?

There has to be a system where the district, tehsil and taluka administrations know that it is their job to give feedback in the event of a disaster. Based on their assessment, there need to be professionals who understand the next steps, what is needed, how it’ll be sourced, and where it needs to be distributed.

Everybody cannot be brought to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar or PIMS in Islamabad, for example. Instead of trying to bring everyone here, take the hospital to them. In disaster situations, we need to be able to set up field hospitals at a short notice, which is well-stocked and well-equipped. Earthquakes always return high physical trauma patients. In this situation, x-ray machines as well as a large number of x-ray films are crucial for such mobile health facilities.

Then there is concern over water: water sources can often turen toxic and you need chlorine tablets to purify stored water. But you need training in that too; it isn’t something that any novice can accomplish.

Stocks also have a shelf life — whether it is for medicines, food or even tents. Have we learnt to chuck away things that are past their shelf life?

Chlorine tablets or powder for example have expiry dates; emergency stocks need to be replaced and replenished accordingly. The same is the case for medicines.

For tents, you need to know where to source tents from. There was a time when a large manufacturer used to build tents; they have now stopped and tent-making has largely been shifted to smaller industries in Gujranwala and Sialkot.

Nylon tents can be sourced quicker, but their biggest shortcoming is that they don’t breathe. We witnessed this problem in the wake of Operation: Rah-i-Rast, when internally displaced persons had to be accommodated in tent cities. These tents became broiling ovens, suffocating the same people whom they were supposed to shelter.

For earthquake relief and rescue work in particular, we also need concrete cutters and jet hammers. This is equipment that can be deployed via helicopters and jeeps; they are operated by trained operators. These are things that are cheap and Pakistan has 132 districts. If we were to place 10 of these equipments in each district, we’d have 1,320 machines that can be put into use. These are not expensive equipment like fire tenders, each of which costs about one crore rupees each. Cutters would only cost Rs50,000 each, and you could add a generator to enable them to function on electricity if the situation necessitates it.

These are very basic requirements of dealing with earthquakes, taking emergency response to the local level and not waiting for a messiah to save the day.

There need to be standard operating procedures for the military to step in too. The first teams that need to be going out are military doctors. They should be mobilised at the first call, not after the army chief issues orders to do so. Because of bureaucratic redtape, much time is lost in initiating relief work.

For effective disaster management, you need a mindset: how will you respond, what will you do? It is about time we started developing one.

‘Where are my babies?’

By Mir Jalalzai

War in the worst-hit areas has meant that relief and rescue teams have been unable to reach those in dire need of help

Amidst the chaos and cacophony inside the trauma ward of Kabul military hospital, two women from the same family from Badakhshan province are conspicuous by their panic.

“Where are my babies?” shouts Bibi Hajira.

“They are fine; they are alive,” a family member consoles her. Hajira goes into slumber again. A few minutes later, the scene is repeated.

“When we felt the first tremors of the quake, we waited for it to pass but they just grew stronger in intensity,” says Hajira. “We both rushed to take our babies from the other rooms, but suddenly the roof collapsed over us.”

All five kids from the household died, says the family. The two mothers were only rescued from the rubble two hours later; both had broken limbs and deep gashes to their skulls, hands and other body parts. They were rushed to Kabul for trauma treatment.

“When they regain consciousness, we tell them that the babies are alive and are back home in Badakhshan,” says a family member tending to the women.

The 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck at 1:39pm local time in Kabul, reports Pajhwok Afghan News, with the epicentre being the Jurm district of southeastern Badakhshan province.

Till the filing of this report, the Afghan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) claimed that 115 people had been killed while 538 were injured, as the quake rocked the provinces of Takhar, Kunar, Ningarhar, Kunar, Kunduz, Badakhshan and Panjsher. As per initial estimates, the number of houses damaged stands at 7,230.

Some injured were flown into Kabul by the Afghan airforce for treatment, but not all areas received relief or recue. This is despite the fact that the United Nations, Red Cross, and USAID having teamed up with the Afghan government and military to reach out to those affected. In some areas, army helicopters could not land due to the Taliban threat. As a result, affected areas in Kunduz, Badakhshan and Kunar provinces remain cut off.

Mir Aqa Etebar, natural disaster management head in Kunduz, told Pajhwok Afghan News that they did not have exact figures for casualties and damages in the province. He also said a landslide triggered by the earthquake blocked the Kunduz-Takhar-Badakhshan highway in Koh Tub locality of Khan Abad district, leaving vehicles stranded. Efforts were underway to reopen the highway.

*Additional reportage by Pajhwok Afghan News, Kabul, Afghanistan

Chaos in the newsrooms

Making contact

By Ismail Khan

Amidst the mayhem of disaster reporting, want of information from far-flungareas becomes suffocating

The first jolt was a distraction. I was checking and responding to emails when the quake careened and swayed the office building from side to side. At first, I thought this was one of the usual fleeting shocks that usually occur in this part of the region. But it was not. Soon enough, the shocks grew in intensity, the floor started moving back and forth, glass windows started rattling, and the wall behind my desktop and work table developed cracks.

It was time; I decided to move out, along with my staff.

The exit stairs were already overcrowded of the 11-floor building where Dawn’s office is located. But briskly and in files, we managed to move out. In the relative safety of the outdoors, I saw the tall building swing back and forth in all its majesty. The aftershocks were still continuing. This was scary; I thought the building would come crashing on us all standing in the open.

Whoa! That was the most severe earthquake I had experienced in my life.

As the jolts stopped, I rushed back inside the office. The cellular phone networks were down. I wanted to call my family and friends and those of my colleagues who were still out. Landlines also didn’t seem to work. My anxiety grew. The editor sent an immediate message checking if we were all ok. Thankfully, we were.

Peshawar

The second and most important task was to find out the intensity and location of the earthquake and check with our correspondents and others what happened in their part of the nook. As colleagues started coming in, we discussed who was going to do what. A colleague, who covers health was tasked to check with hospitals and rescue workers to know if there had been any fatalities.

Zulfikar, our senior reporter, holding his notebook, was already on the job, checking with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, district and tribal correspondents the extent of the damage caused by the deadly earthquake.

Another colleague was checking with civic bodies and rescue workers to know if their response to the emerging catastrophe was immediate. A female colleague was looking at human angle of the devastating earthquake.

If 2005 had taught us anything, it was to piece together information and accounts from far-flung areas. Peshawar has a way of surviving calamity — natural or manmade — but it is usually areas without access to emergency healthcare or even a telecommunications network that are worst-hit. Breaking news of calamity in these districts often takes on greater significance since the magnitude of death and destruction is also higher, and therefore, the needs of these areas takes precedence.

Even in the absolute madness of reporting a natural disaster, those who weren’t in Peshawar occupied our thoughts. They still do, because they are larger than any “so-many-dead-and-so-many-wounded story.

The writer is Dawn’s Editor KP

The sum of all parts

By Danish Karokhel

In the absence of a strong government and military, the Afghan media has stepped up to fill the information vacuum

It was 1:39pm in Kabul when the 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked our city. When it happened, we were in a meeting, discussing ways to develop media ethics, but soon, all journalists wanted to finish the session as soon as possible. There was much chaos awaiting us in our newsrooms and we needed to be with our teams.

Having rushed to work, I found that our editors and reporters were already busy trying to collect and collate information.

Related departments such as photography and social media too were very active. In Jalalabad, a colleague’s house had been severely damaged, but when I checked on others, they were all safe.

Communication lines had been affected, so reaching out to people was not easy. But the advantage that we at Pajhwok have is that our network of regional editors and reporters is spread across Afghanistan. If we could get in touch with them, we’d have our information. And we did.

It was our regional editors’ job to start assessing the extent of damage and start cross-checking facts and figures. On the first day, the government was reporting a figure of around 25 deaths, but we had been reporting 70. I received calls from government officials asking how we had tabulated 70 deaths; we duly provided the information we had.

But it was also on the first day that Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah directed the authorities concerned to deliver emergency aid to the people affected by the massive earthquake. Chairing a meeting of the Emergency Response Committee (ERC) on information collection and aid delivery, Abdullah said emergency measures should be taken for aid delivery to those affected.

Kabul

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani late in that evening, in a televised speech shared his sorrow with the people of Afghanistan and tasked all the provincial governors not to leave any stone unturned in delivering aid to those affected and identifying the casualties figures.

It is in this meeting that commissions and committees were constituted to provide first information and to carry out needs’ assessment in various areas. Through an official mechanism, we are now trying to marry the information received by the media with official information. Together, we are piecing various parts of the jigsaw to find out the true extent of damage and destruction.

The media has also emerged as the foremost platform for rescue and relief information. For example, Pajhwok has been printing updated emergency helpline contact numbers as well as any government desk contact numbers for the common public. Then there are donation campaigns that are exclusively being run through the media, since there is no other way of providing information or awareness.

We had been sending reporters from Kabul and other city centres to check up on communities who live in close proximity to the city. Much of the reported damage and destruction is from areas where some communication lines are still open. We also understand very well that access to healthcare is very weak in provinces, and therefore, many of the injured had to be brought to the cities.

But the big worry is rural areas, especially with the onset of winters upon us. The key concern here is reconstruction, since it’ll start snowing soon in some districts. For rural and impoverished areas, this spells disaster because there will be no shelter for many of the under-privileged.

In editorials and reportage on the third day since the quake, Afghan journalists have been pushing our government to start reconstruction as soon as possible. The debate today is either to reconstruct on war footings or to shift the vulnerable populations to temporary shelters.

The writer is director and editor-in-chief of Pajhwok Afghan News, Kabul, Afghanistan

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 1st, 2015*

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