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Winter threatens with another emergency

© Paul Jeffrey

By Arne Grieg Riisnæs, Norwegian Church Aid , ACT International

The massive earthquake that shook parts of Pakistan October 8, 2005, killed some 80,000 people, injured at least 200,000, and left nearly 3.5 million people without shelter. When the earthquake struck, the Pakistani authorities and the international community were quick to respond with lifesaving emergency aid. This assistance, combined with an unusually mild winter and few heavy snowfalls, allowed those affected by the earthquake to tackle the winter far better than was feared. Yet financial support from the international community soon dried up, and donations have fallen around US$151 million short of the UN’s target for relief and rehabilitation activities.

Less than 2 % of the population has so far been able to rebuild their homes

In Mansehra, Shangla, Battagram, Kohistan and Abottabad - all districts of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) - where more than 570,000 houses were entirely or partially destroyed, less than two percent of the population has so far been able to rebuild their homes. Authorities estimate that 66,000 families from the mountainous districts are currently without shelter, and that these families will move to lower ground when winter sets in. They will need insulated tents, blankets, food and water. After last year’s mild winter which was relatively kind to the earthquake survivors, the weather this winter is expected to be much harsher, with freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls.

• "Hundreds of thousands of people will be forced to leave their homes over the coming months. A humanitarian emergency is very probable," says Hussain Ullah, national coordinator for earthquake response activities in Pakistan, who also reports to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

In Balakot, four hours north of Islamabad, more than 17,000 people were killed and almost 90 percent of homes in the town itself flattened by the earthquake. Today, Balakot is a confusion of ruins and haphazard constructions of corrugated iron. In the center of what was once a flourishing trading hub, some small, provisional shops have been set up. In one of them we met a teacher, Mohammed Perwaz. He had just begun the day’s lesson when the earthquake struck last year. Four of the children in his class were killed instantly as the school collapsed. He lost his own younger sister. Mohammed still works as a teacher, but lessons take place now in makeshift tents on the outskirts of town. The quake destroyed 7,669 schools, and only a small number of these have been rebuilt. "It will take 50 to 100 years before we can get back to where we were before the earthquake. Balakot is a graveyard, but we have to look to the future. For the children’s sake," says Mohammed.

© Peter Høvring

Fear of death

"We have nothing. We live from hand to mouth," says 76-year-old Lalparam Jan in the village of Dharian in Battagram District. The terrain is mountainous here, and hardly a person is to be found who has not in one way or another suffered from the earthquake’s effects. She and her husband Gul Zarin were both injured when parts of their house collapsed that fatal morning - they were rescued by a Japanese relief team. Lalparam’s injuries were so severe that she is still unable to move. The elderly couple now spend their days in the ruins of their former home. At night they retreat to the tent they received in January. It is full of holes and is slowly rotting. In this region, up to 150 cm of snow can fall during the winter months. They are afraid that when the snow comes their tent and what remains of their home will collapse. "Then we’re finished. I can’t move, and we can’t afford medical treatment. I may as well die now, but I’m scared," says Lalparam. Her husband dried a tear, but when he heard we were from Norwegian Church Aid and Church World Service--both members of the global alliance ACT International, he reached out his hand. "Thank you. Without water, we would already be dead."

A stone’s throw away from Lalparam and Gul, we met Sultan and his four year-old daughter Mairfazon. Her younger brother was buried alive, just one year old, when their house collapsed in the earthquake. Since then, Mairzafon has been living in a tent with her mother, while her father sleeps in their uncle’s barn. "I don’t care about the house, but I mourn the loss of my boy every day. I also fear winter. Most of the women and children sleep in tents - they won’t move back into the buildings because they are afraid another earthquake or aftershock will come. But the tent we have is no good. The rain comes straight through it. When the snow starts to fall, I don’t know what we’re going to do," says Sultan.

Reliant on aid

Soon after the earthquake struck last year, the Pakistan government placed a ban on reconstruction efforts by organizations--because the authorities wished to introduce a "common standard" to ensure that new houses were more earthquake-resistant. However, the issue of land ownership has had an impact on the reconstruction efforts, creating many challenges.

In March this year, the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), the Pakistani authorities’ reconstruction agency, promised economic compensation to all who had lost their homes in the earthquake. However a very large number of those affected by the earthquake are extremely poor and have had to use this money on food and clothing instead. "We (the authorities) cannot help the fact that people have used their money on other things than the intended purpose, namely the reconstruction of their houses," said Hussain Ullah, admitting that this is a serious problem. "But it is still their problem," said Ullah, and underlines that the authorities are currently preparing themselves to deal with the large numbers of people who are expected to descend from the mountains, bringing with them little else than the clothes they are wearing. And this is before the authorities turn to those who will remain in the mountains.

"If people had only used the money they received to build houses, the situation would be entirely different," said Hussain Ullah. "When the snow comes, large areas of the Allai valley will be isolated. A very large number of residents will be dependent on aid via helicopter. Otherwise they will die. Many will die this winter," says Ullah.

DanChurchAid is a member of ACT International - a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies.