IRIN
PAKISTAN: Earthquake returns gather momentum
3 April 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 3 April (IRIN) - With the focus shifting from earthquake relief to 
recovery in northern Pakistan, more than 40,000 quake survivors have returned 
from emergency settlements to what's left of their communities as part of the 
return process that began on 10 March, according to relief officials.

"In North West Frontier Province (NWFP), eight camps are now empty in the 
Mansehra district, while two camps in the Battagram district emptied on Friday, 
meaning over 38,000 people have left relief camps since 10 March. Nearly 1,400 
quake survivors have repatriated from relief camps in Pakistani-administered 
Kashmir," Fatma Bassiouni, a spokeswoman for the office of the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in the Pakistani capital, 
Islamabad, on Monday.

"The local civilian authorities running the Kund camp in Battagram are now 
working to transfer communal facilities such as toilets from the camp to the 
villages of those [who have] returned while other utilities like kitchens have 
already been dismantled and taken by the families going home," Bassiouni added.

According to the Federal Relief Commission (FRC), close to 300,000 quake 
survivors remain in tented camps in over 600 settlements across the quake zone.

On Saturday, President General Pervez Musharraf said reconstruction of 
quake-devastated communities would officially begin on 7 April. Islamabad plans 
to assist the survivors with reconstruction grants and technical assistance.

In addition, each quake-affected family that returns is entitled to a monthly 
subsistence allowance of approximately US $50 for six months.

The city of Balakot is to be rebuilt in a completely new location after it was 
razed by last October's earthquake. The city, home to 300,000 people before the 
quake, will be rebuilt in a safer location to modern design standards. No site 
for the new city has yet been identified, Pakistan's Information Minister 
Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said. Balakot is currently located on a major geological 
fault line about 200 km north of the capital.

Meanwhile, a mission comprising of representatives from 12 countries, the 
European Commission for Humanitarian Affairs (ECHO) and the UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is visiting Pakistan this week to 
review the overall response to the earthquake by donors and the humanitarian 
community.


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Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


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