ISLAMABAD, Dec 31: International aid agencies say thousands of families are still without permanent homes in earthquake-hit parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the NWFP.

The agencies say there are still 60,000 families without permanent homes and they are confined to makeshift shelters with limited access to drinking water and sanitation. As people are busy in preparing for Eid festivities in most parts of the country, many survivors of last year’s earthquake are not so fortunate, as the deadly earthquake of Oct 8 has not only killed or maimed their loved-ones, it has made most of them dependent on government and different NGOs for their day-to-day needs.

Though markets of Muzaffarabad are packed with shoppers catching last-minute items in preparations for the happy occasion, thousands of survivors living at far-off places are still confined to tents and pre-fabricated shelters.—PPI