ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: The number of people facing a bleak winter in tents in the northern Karakoram mountain range following the earthquakes last week had risen to 15,000, a government official said on Sunday.
“It appears to be higher than we originally thought. We now believe around 15,000 people are affected,” joint secretary of the Kashmir affairs department, Jahangir Khan, told AFP.
Their homes had been completely destroyed or were so badly damaged they were afraid to return, he said.
“There is a tremendous sense of anxiety. The tremors are continuing; there is a lot of subsoil rumbling going on, then there are jolts,” Mr Khan said and added: “People are very afraid.”
Earlier, the government estimated that around 10,000 people had been affected by the quakes.
Rescue workers were dropping tents and blankets for protection against the sub-zero night temperatures directly to people by helicopter, Mr Khan said.
“We are not moving these people out; we are taking the relief items to them because the number of people is too large.
“The immediate need is tents, quilts and blankets. They are being delivered, more are in the pipeline, but there is a dire need for more help. We are not meeting the targets yet”, he said. Rescue efforts were being made by air because the access road linking the arterial Karakoram highway to the affected region was blocked, Mr Khan said.
Aftershocks had also caused landslides that were blocking stretches of the strategic highway, which links Pakistan with China and was built along the ancient Silk Road once plied by merchants between South and Central Asia.
The quakes hit at 2:32am local time on Thursday (2132 GMT Wednesday), near Gilgit.
The first and largest measured 5.5 on the Richter Scale.
Mr Khan said that as of Saturday night it appeared 21 people had been killed. PTV said on Sunday that a plane load of emergency relief goods had left the capital for the area on the orders of Pakistan’s new prime minister, Zafarullah Jamali.
Jamali had also sent the new water and power minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao to the area to supervise relief operations, it said.
APP adds: Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said the government would provide all possible assistance for rehabilitation to the Northern Areas’ quake victims.
He was addressing on Sunday the residents of Dushkin Valley which was badly affected owing to the continued aftershocks during the past three days.
The minister handed over the relief goods brought by C-130 from Islamabad to the administration of Northern Areas including 160 tents and 1,000 blankets provided by the cabinet division and 100 out of 160 tents by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society.
The cabinet division and Pakistan Red Crescent Society have provided 1,100 tents and 8,000 blankets, besides other items including complete bedding for 55 people, 45 large rugs, 120 clothe bales, 1,500 pairs of socks, 1,300 jerseys, Rs150,000 medicines, 300 kerosene stoves, 20 cotton shawls, kitchen items, 100 hurricane lamps and about nine tons of food items.
Speaker of the Northern Areas Legislative Assembly, Sahib Khan; chief secretary and NAs Force Commander Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed briefed the federal minister on the relief operation in the quake affected areas and expressed their satisfaction over the performance of administration, army and NGOs working for the rehabilitation of the victims jointly.
Regarding the restoration of the Karokaram Highway (KKH) and Astore Road, he said the KKH would be opened within a couple of days positively for light traffic and Astore Road within two weeks because an operation to clear the way was continue but still not moving effectively due to a series of aftershocks in the area.
Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao visited some quake affected villages and assured residents to meet their necessities without delay. The force commander of the Northern Areas, federal secretary of the Kashmir affairs ministry, chief secretary of NAs and other senior officials also accompanied the minister.