LAHORE, Oct 20: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has suggested that all civil society organizations should divide tremor-hit areas among themselves for swift and more organized relief activities.

The step is all the more necessary for severe chilly weather has almost set in and may cause thousands more deaths if the shelterless people are taken care of in time, he says calling for united efforts by all.

He said at a press conference here on Thursday the government could not provide relief to the victims alone, so it should gather and send volunteers to the affected areas for their quick rehabilitation.

The PTI, which has set up Imran Khan’s Earthquake Relief Centre on 14-Zafar Ali Road, was planning to establish 500 pre-fabricated houses being imported from Turkey, he said.

He said the new challenge facing the nation was to save the victims living in the open in chilly weather.

The second big task was taking care of the children who had been rendered disabled.

Realizing that the army was actively launching relief operations, the PTI chief said the civil administration looked miserable in this connection.

The national crisis management had completely failed in the wake of earthquake, he said, and the government must probe the matter to avoid mistakes in future.

The inquiry must include the point that why the government did not call in 90,000 troops, fighting someone else war in Waziristan (NWFP), to the quake-affected areas as having training of operating in mountainous region they could have provided quick relief to the injured people.

“The rulers could have sought permission from their foreign masters to discontinue war on terror temporarily and send the army to the affected areas.”

The PTI leader said the national institutions seemed flopped and local government system exposed in the wake of the tremor tragedy.

The replacement of well-versed deputy commissioners with ill-trained district nazims had exposed the performance of the latter in meeting crisis management standards.

He suggested that the government should delegate powers to union council nazims who have roots in masses and so could perform better in any eventuality.

Replying to questions regarding opening of the Line of Control (LoC) and receiving aid from Israel, Mr Khan said there should be no hesitation as far as the relief aid was concerned because saving humanity should be the top priority.

Asked if the opposition could avoid politics and extend a helping hand to the government in the relief work, Mr Khan said it was doing all its best in this regard but the government was taking political mileage out of it.

He cited an example that the PIA refused him to carry free of charge 2,500 tents on the plea that the facility was available only for the President’s Relief Fund donations.

Replying to a question, he said the government would be unable to accommodate orphaned and disabled children and suggested that they must be handed over to NGOs like the SOS Village.

Regarding PTI’s so far rehabilitation plan, he said Rs6 million had so far been collected which would be utilized for rehabilitation of the victims.

Twenty truckloads of relief goods had been sent from Lahore alone and three camps at Mansehra, Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad had been set up by the PTI.

A team of doctors from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital was also leaving for Muzaffarabad and Balakot to operate upon the injured there.