IRIN
PAKISTAN: Winter weather hampering quake aid
2 January 2006


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

ABBOTABAD, 2 January (IRIN) - Along a bleak, sleet-drenched street in 
the town of Abbottabad, Rafeeq Khan, 15, waits at a bus stop. In his 
arms, he carries his youngest brother, Imad. The child, wrapped in a 
thick woollen shawl, has a hacking cough and a high fever, and the 
family, based at their village near Balakot, some 45 km from Abbotabad, 
are concerned he may have developed pneumonia.

Rain and snow fell across Pakistan's earthquake zone for a second 
straight day on Monday, grounding relief flights and adding to the 
misery of millions of survivors camped out in tents and crude shelters. 
Doctors have reported increasing respiratory infections among survivors.

"It has been snowing heavily and raining since yesterday. My father is 
too busy trying to get more plastic sheets to put over our tent, or to 
buy tin sheets to construct a shelter, so I have brought Imad here, to 
the Ayub Medical Complex," Rafeeq explained.

More than 80,000 people were killed by the 8 October earthquake in 
northern Pakistan and about 1,300 died in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The Pakistan meteorological department said that some parts of the quake 
zone, which extends from Kashmir into Pakistan's North West Frontier 
Province (NWFP), had seen more than 60 cm of snow.

Abbotabad, a town of some 100,000 with the best medical facilities in 
the area, has fast become one of the focal points for quake victims 
seeking to escape plummeting temperatures and heavy snow that has 
blocked many roads.

"Even the road from Murree to Muzaffarabad was totally blocked on 
Sunday. We have now come to Abbotabad to try and reach Muzaffarabad from 
here," said Awais Tirimezi, a volunteer with a local charity. He added 
that authorities seemed to lack the large, snow shovelling equipment 
needed to keep roads open.

Meanwhile, the situation is said to be particularly critical in the 
higher mountain regions of the extensive quake zone, where an estimated 
400,000 survivors still cling on to life.

According to Ishfaq Ahmed, who is organising relief efforts for the 
Kashmir International Relief Fund, nearly 100 children have died from 
the cold over the past month in Muzaffarabad and Bagh, the two largest 
towns in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

The death toll in other areas is unknown - with high altitude villages 
now almost completely cut off from aid and assistance. "Most people 
still do not have winterised tents. Thousands of the tents distributed 
in the early days of the quake are in fact entirely useless now. Because 
of the weather conditions, the efforts to get tin sheets to people so 
they can build shelters are being repeatedly disrupted," said Martin 
Sanders, a British relief worker who has been in the Balakot area since 
October.

About 12 km outside Abbotabad, along the route to the shattered town of 
Garhi Habibullah, Salimullah, 40, looks glumly at his drenched, canvas 
tent, the bedding placed outside on rocks during a brief respite from 
the rain that has been falling almost constantly for the last 24 hours.

"I was told this was a strong tent. Look at it now. It has collapsed 
even though no real snow has fallen yet," said Salimullah, as his family 
gather in a bedraggled group besides the crumpled shelter. Hundreds of 
families face a similar plight, and there are bitter complaints about 
the delay in providing tin sheets needed to construct makeshift 
shelters.

"I have been trying to purchase the sheets for weeks now. But they are 
just not available in any town near here, including the district 
headquarter, Mansehra. With tin sheets, we are at least partially 
protected - and we can light a fire safely to keep warm," Salimullah 
said.

Across the region, as sleet falls covering the ground in a treacherous 
layer of white, teams in military vehicles use loudspeakers to warn 
people against lighting fires in tents. In several cases, soldiers are 
said to have skirmished with families over the issue of fires in the 
flammable canvas shelters. Dozens of injuries have been caused - but the 
situation is a desperate one, relief workers say.

Efforts have been continuing for much of the past month to get the tin 
sheets needed to build shelters to people as fast as possible. Giant 
Chinooks, brought in by the US military soon after the quake, have been 
lifting truckloads of the sheets each day to areas in Shinkiari, 
Battagram, Allai, the Kaghan Valley and elsewhere. But now, weather 
conditions have prevented the choppers from taking to the skies, except 
for brief interludes of relatively fine weather - and there are fears 
that by the time sheets reach people, it may be too late.

There is widespread agreement that the situation is critical. Maj Gen 
Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the Pakistan military, acknowledged on 
Monday that "conditions are very tough", but added that "all efforts are 
on to ensure everything needed reaches affected people."


IRIN photos and articles of the Asia earthquake impact are available to 
media and members of the humanitarian community free-of-charge. Articles 
can be accessed at www.IRINnews.org. Full-sized images suitable for 
publications can be downloaded directly from the public photo 
library:www.irinnews.org/photogallery/iringallery .  To search for 
appropriate photos select 'Pakistan' under the Country search dropdown 
box.

New photos and articles are added daily.


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