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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Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


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