IRIN
PAKISTAN: Boost to winter access in Pakistan quake zone
18 December 2006


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

ISLAMABAD, 18 December (IRIN) - Additional cash has been made available 
by the Pakistani government to maintain road access across the hazardous 
quake zone this winter, following a concerted lobby by the international 
aid community.

Anwar Ul Haq, the United Nation's Area Coordinator for North West 
Frontier Province (NWFP), welcomed the move and said it was critical 
that access to quake-hit communities be maintained.

Keeping the roads clear from snow and landslides is seen as the key to 
keeping thousands of families within their mountain communities and 
allowing them access to provisions as the harsh weather sets in, 
observers say.

Ul Haq said the Pakistani government had in the last few days agreed to 
make up to US $415,000 available for the NWFP districts of Mansehra and 
Battagram, devastated when last year's earthquake ripped through the 
region, killing more than 75,000 and rendering more than 3 million 
homeless.

The news comes amid fears expressed by the international aid community 
that up to 50,000 people in NWFP could desert their mountain homes to 
escape the harsh weather and seek aid in government-run camps for fear 
of becoming cut off in high-altitude villages by severe weather 
conditions.

Temperatures in the Himalayan foothills devastated by the catastrope of 
8 October 2005 can drop below minus 20 degrees Celsius, with snowfall 
during the winter months topping four metres.

Ul Haq commented: "If the roads are kept clear it is less likely the 
people will come down from the mountains to seek aid - if they know 
access is clear, they will stay. Obtaining the funding for road 
clearance as the winter sets in has been critical and follows a 
concerted lobby."

He said the international aid community had made a strong case to the 
federal government, coordinated by the UN regional office in Abbottabad.

"There was a gap and the federal government answered. We managed to 
secure what was asked for," Ul Haq added. The money would translate into 
additional road clearing machinery and manpower during the winter.

Mansehra-based District Coordination Officer (DCO), Shakeel Qadis Khan, 
confirmed $165,000 had already been released last week for road clearing 
in Mansehra district by the provincial government, with the promise of 
more as needed. It would be channelled to the Works and Services 
Department to keep roads and bridges open.

"Whenever and wherever there is demand the department will mobilise 
resources," Qadis Khan said, adding that the additional resources were 
necessary due to a scaling down of the army presence across the quake 
zone.

Some $83,000 has also been made available for road clearance across 
Battagram district, according to Ul Haq.

Similar concerns, he believed, to secure funding for road clearance 
across Pakistani-administered Kashmir did not exist, which he said drew 
funds directly from the federal government.


IRIN-Asia
Tel: +90 312 454 1177
Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International             web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information         listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                               guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
South Asia Earthquake               www.cidi.org/incident/sasia-05j