MANSEHRA, April 1: Earthquake survivors of Balakot and Garlat have threatened to protest in front of the Parliament House if Nespak does not include about 2,300 survivor families in the list for payment of the third and fourth installments of the housing compensation amount.

Speaking at a press conference in Balakot on Tuesday, representatives of the local bodies and elders of survivors, including the convener of the Balakot Basaw (Rehabilitate Balakot) and nazim of the Garlat Union Council, Munir Hussein Lughmani, former nazim of Balakot, Sajjad Ahmad, councillors Munsif Khan and Haji Imran and elders Babar Khan, Rustam Khan and Gafar Khan, said Nespak had issued the list of survivors of Balakot and Garlat which did not include names of about 2,300 survivor families who had received the first and second installments of the compensation amount.

They said according to the previous survey carried out by the army personnel, 5,050 houses, including 2,521 in Garlat, were destroyed and the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority paid them the first and second installments.

In the fresh list, they said, names of heads of 2,724 survivor families were included, 1,355 from Garlat and 1,369 from Balakot.

They said Erra had set April 1 as the last date for the survey for the third installment and issued a declaration form for payment. They claimed that the form was full of discrepancies and mistakes.

They said payment of the first and second installments to minors and orphans was made through their guardians but for payment of the remaining third and fourth installments it had not been made clear whether the payment would be made through the same guardians or not.

They said the ambiguity should be cleared because minors and orphans could not visit the offices of the departments concerned.

They urged international donors and the federal government to take notice of grievances of the quake survivors and solve their problems.