ABBOTTABAD, Feb 17: More than 8,000 earthquake survivors living in a tent village in Havelian have refused to leave the village and asked the government to reconsider its decision to vacate the tent village by March 31. The survivors staged a protest rally at the tent village on Thursday, where several representatives of quake-affected people from different areas made speeches.

They said that the quake victims had lost their houses and belongings but the government had paid each of them only Rs25,000 for the construction of a house. It was not possible to repair or rebuild a house through the meagre amount, they added. They called upon the government to reconsider the decision to vacate the village by March 31 and not to dislocate its residents till they were provided proper shelters in their areas.

The speakers included Karim Dad (from Alai), Bashir Mughal (from Balakot), Sabir Hussain (from Azad Kashmir) and Mehboob Elahi Abbasi (from Bakot).