PESHAWAR, Nov 15: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who on Tuesday wound up a house debate on the relief and rehabilitation work in five quake-hit districts, said that at least Rs60 billion was needed to rehabilitate the affected. Mr Durrani broke down while describing the destruction caused by the Oct 8 earthquake in Balakot that was reduced to rubble. He said the quake also devasted in Shangla and Hazara.
He informed the house that the federal government had provided Rs4.5 billion for relief and rehabilitation operations in the province.
Mr Durrani, who belongs to the opposition Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, thanked President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for extending all sorts of assistance to the NWFP government to deal with the disaster.
He said the army personnel had reached inaccessible parts of the province and were providing relief supplies to victims.
The welfare wings of political and religious parties as well as NGOs were also rendering valuable service, he added.
He said 29,360 people were killed and 33,372 others injured in the Oct 8 quake and next day’s aftershocks.
A larger number of people are missing, he said, adding that the government had issued a list of such people to the media to learn about their whereabouts.
The chief minister said that more than 251,988 houses in 44 per cent of the populated area were destroyed, while the rest were left unusable as they had developed deep cracks. The quake left 1.35 million people homeless who were staying either with their relatives or in tents.
He said the quake had destroyed an area spread over 17,000 sq-km, adding that the entire stretch of land was void of schools, hospitals, houses, mosques, bazaars and police stations.
Not a single government official was available after the quake because he either was engaged in rescuing his own family or died in the quake, he added.
The chief minister said that on Oct 8 he could not get a helicopter till afternoon and thanked the inspector-general of the Frontier Corps for sparing his two-seater chopper to visit Balakot.
He said that later a meeting was held at which he ordered release of Rs250 million to the district coordinating officers in affected districts for rescue and relief operations.
He said a video was being made of distribution of relief money to make the process transparent. Hundreds of baggers have arrived in the affected areas to hoodwink relief officials, but “government has dealt all such thugs and criminals with an iron hand”.
He said that one tent village, comprising 1,00 tents, required five laundries, 30 kitchens, a 14-bed health unit, sewerage system, and water, gas and power supplies.
“The provision of these facilities will cost us Rs9.451 million at one unit, while we need to have hundreds of such facilities across the affected areas,” he added.
The NWFP government, he said, had upgraded an artificial limbs workshop to provide limbs to the needy free of cost.
Opposition leader Shahzada Gustasip in his speech underlined the need for setting up of a disaster management system in the planning department.
Later, the speaker adjourned the house till Nov 18.