MIRPUR: Without running water, Sakina Bibi and her children were trying to clean their pots and utensils with a piece of dry fabric.

The walls of the kitchen in her Mora Saanghome have collapsed, leaving Sakina and her children with nothing to eat.

“We are trying to gather anything that is manageable, but I am worried about my family’s basic needs,” she told Dawn.

The damage caused by Tuesday’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake has left women in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, struggling to cope in damaged homes, with meagre resources and no water and electricity.

Power lines were damaged in the earthquake, and the authorities have halted the electric supply to prevent electrocution. But this means that the motors pumping water from tubewells are no long functional.

In another household, Tanzeela and her cousin Javeria were coordinating with army personnel who were moving their household items into the one room left intact after the earthquake.

Tanzeela’s own father died several years ago, and Javeria’s is disabled. It was eventually decided that both families would have to move to a relative’s home.

Most women were busy discussing plans to move, or whether to spend the night out in the open. Boys were out on the streets, looking on or driving around on motorcycles.

Ahsan, also from Saang, said he was out to see the damage caused by the earthquake.

“My family has decided to shift to my grandfather’s house, which is nearby and has not been damaged. I’m just out to see what’s happening,” he said.

The extraordinary movement of locals on motorcycles and in cars cause severe traffic congestion on the muddy road that faces the Saang, Mora Saang and Kikri villages. Azad Jammu and Kashmir traffic police, military personnel and some locals helped to maintain the flow of traffic.

Most of the shops in the area are closed and food storage areas have been damaged, making cooking difficult. As such, women were the last ones to eat, as most men managed to have lunch at the free kitchen established by an NGO and brought pots and utensils to take food back home after they had eaten.

“The various sufferings of women are ignored in such eventualities, and this includes rest because they cannot sleep out in the open and they have to wait for the men to bring something to eat,” an aid worker said.

Even in those families who manage to move into relatives’ homes, the women will be responsible for gathering and managing their household items to prevent further losses, the aid worker said.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2019