ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: We all remember the courage of the rescuers. We remember the outpouring friendship and sympathy from nations around the world when the devastating earthquake hit two years ago. And the strong sense of pride the way Pakistani nation responded to the tragedy.

But a visit to Muzaffarabad city after two years reawakened painful memories. Its people are still in need.

Flattened structures can still be seen three or four kilometres before reaching the devastated city, just like they did two years ago.

Walking in the narrow streets of Shahnara, a residential sector in the centre of Muzaffarabad that saw some of the most tragic scenes, brought back all those horrific images that we saw immediately after the devastation wrought by the powerful earthquake.

Collapsed buildings, deep cracks running through the walls, abandoned houses, children digging, and people still living in tents, its like little has changed.

People suffer from the same mental agony they did after the tectonic plates shifted under Muzaffarabad.

Sufferings and miseries seem endless for Mrs Abdul Rashid Qureshi. Her son and a daughter were killed instantly when their house collapsed. Her other daughter, Shumaila, suffered backbone injuries and was paralysed. She died a year and a half later.

“We lost everything,” the grieving mother said while cleaning dust off her son’s grave. “We brought Shumaila back but conditions were so brutal that her miseries got worse. Summers gave her bedsores. The compensation money was used for her treatment in Islamabad. We did everything to save her.”

Mrs Qureshi was among some who did not get shelters, she said. “We live in a room with my husband and only son which a neighbour was kind enough to share.”

“With utility expenses going through the roof and skyrocketing prices of basic food items, it is becoming difficult to even keep the kitchen fire running. We had thought of building our house again but it seems our dream is never coming true,” she said wiping her tears.

Post Trauma Stress Disorders (PSTD) is among the most pressing concerns in Muzaffarabad and its surrounding villages.

“It’s our biggest problem,” Director-General Health Muzaffarabad Dr Mohammad Qurban Mir said.

“The incidence is higher than ever. There are mothers who have lost sons, children with no limbs, wives with spinal cord injuries, men and women widowed and children orphaned. It was a big disaster that not only physically but mentally engulfed the people,” he added.