MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 27: The Lions Clubs International has initiated a project for rehabilitation of earthquake victims which envisages construction of 150 model houses, mosques and schools in mountain villages of district Muzaffarabad.

The project, estimated to be completed by the end of December, was inaugurated by Sheikh Kabir Hossain, a Bangladeshi national and one of the 32 members of LCI’s board of directors, near here on Sunday.

The club’s council chairperson in Pakistan Haji Mohammad Asif, project chairman Malik Khuda Bux, district governor and many others were also present on the occasion.

After formally launching the project, Mr Hossain told reporters that the LCI Foundation — a USA based grant-making arm of various clubs — had contributed $1.2 million for a project for permanent rehabilitation of quake survivors in northern Pakistan.

“We also offered services to the quake victims during the emergency relief phase and now we are launching permanent relief project,” he added.

He said the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority had identified around eight small hamlets of Muzaffarabad at an altitude of about 4,800 feet for execution of the project.

The project was being executed through a non-profit Pakistani organisation of professionals — the Citizens Foundation (TCF) — whose officials also showed models of the houses to the LCI delegation and reporters.

Nawab Ali Khan, a TCF official, said the houses fell in two categories, ‘B’ and ‘C’, and their covered area would be 975 and 575 sq feet, respectively.

According to estimates, construction of these houses would cost $891,666, Mr Hossain said.