CWS-ACT
Earthquake Response

ACT Situation Report

Pakistan 15/05

Pakistan earthquake: CWS-ACT response

Geneva, December 2, 2005

Information supplied by ACT member Church World Service (Pakistan/Afghanistan office)

General situation

Officials say that winter weather in the zone hit by the Oct. 8 earthquake has tripled the number of people requiring hospital treatment, with more than 1,000 people a day seeking help for pneumonia and other ailments. The UN says that many people are also turning up at the 22 field hospitals in Muzaffarabad seeking treatment for pneumonia and acute respiratory infections. Heavy rain and snow are lashing Azad Kashmir, where more than 100 people were brought to hospitals with hypothermia and respiratory illnesses. Three winter-related deaths of earthquake survivors have been confirmed.

The bad weather has also blocked roads and grounded helicopters as troops race against the approaching winter to ferry aid to remote areas. The troops relied on vehicles where possible and mules in other places. A Pakistani government official has said that the government is making all-out efforts to ensure protective measures against severe weather. He said priority is being given to the relief operations in the areas above 5,000 feet and that efforts have been geared up to set up shelters in the affected areas, and about 10,000 temporary houses have so for been constructed with 3,000 more under construction. He said more than a half million tents have already been dispatched to the quake-affected areas so far.

The latest government-published statistics about the quake damage reveal that out of the 1,313 villages in the Muzaffarabad, Neelum, Bagh, Rawlakot and Palandri districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 1,050 have been affected. Some 59,908 pucca (brick) houses collapsed, and 20,158 were damaged, displacing more than three million people. The quake destroyed 115,075 kutcha (mud) houses and damaged 49,527 of them. About 1,566 educational institutions were destroyed, and 644 damaged; 168 buildings with medical facilities were destroyed and 70 damaged. A total of 341 government buildings were destroyed and 238 damaged. Similarly, 6,002 other structures fell to the ground, and 1,846 suffered cracks and other damage.

A top geologist and UN consultant advising the Pakistani government has warned that parts of at least 12 villages in the quake zone could be wiped out by landslides and floods and must be evacuated, especially areas near Jared and Kawai in the Kaghan Valley, where a whole flank of a mountain must be evacuated as cracks are widening. The land in the quake areas is now riddled with deep, gaping cracks. Fault lines cutting through mountains have literally split them in half. With precipitation, caused by the onset of winter snow and rain, the results could be catastrophic.

Church World Service (CWS)-ACT response

The component of the CWS-ACT program to prepare relief areas for winter has included sending firewood to Maira Camp at the request of the Pakistani army authorities and the camp’s management. CWS has also received an urgent request from Balakot for firewood, which CWS will supply. CWS is sending warm clothes to Bisyan - wool jumpers, knitted caps, jackets, quilted blankets, sleeping bags, etc.

On Nov. 26, the fourth air shipment from Oslo (facilitated by ACT member Norwegian Church Aid) arrived in Islamabad. It contained 45,037 wool jumpers, 2,000 knitted caps, 200 jackets, 18,000 quilted blankets and many other relief items, including food packages and sleeping bags.

With winter setting in, some quake survivors are still without shelter, sufficient food or warm clothing nearly eight weeks after the disaster struck. The focus of the relief efforts is now shifting toward food, even though shelters are still needed. This puts the lives of survivors at further risk. People are rushing to tent villages to seek shelter. The CWS-ACT tent village in Shohal Najaf is now housing 183 families (1,276 people).

CWS has provided electric wires, energy-saving bulbs, bulb holders, bed switches, a main switch (30 amps) and a main switchboard for the tent village for the installation of electricity in all the tents in the village, as this is one of the most urgently needed facilities. Following a hail storm and low temperatures several nights ago, which was making it hard for little children in the village to cope, CWS distributed eight specially designed sleeping bags for the smaller children.

The CWS psychosocial care team held a meeting with the cluster leaders of the tent village. 15 women attended. The meeting discussed how women can engage in various positive activities in the tent village to help them return to their normal lives. The leaders of the clusters were briefed on how they can involve themselves in daily routine activities such as cleaning their tents, washing the latrines, taking care of children and cooking. CWS is trying to assist the women in recovering from their trauma as soon as possible. At earlier meetings, women have discussed their grief at the loss of loved ones, other problems they face and other essential items they need in the tent village. In another major development, Mr. Jahangir, one of the tent village’s residents, has been nominated to act as a facilitator for the camp’s visitors and will be responsible for identifying case studies if required by visitors.

So far the CWS water and sanitation program has successfully completed seven of it projects in Abbottabad, Mansehra and Shangla.

On Nov. 30, CWS distribution teams verified 130 vulnerable families in Union Council Chattar Plains against their assessments, and coupons were given to the families. The previous day, 45 families were given coupons, but the distribution did not take place. On Dec. 1, a collective distribution was to be conducted at the government primary school in Madan village, Union Council Chattar Plains, and a total of 175 families were to be given food and shelter kits. Another CWS distribution team went for assessments in Pathoka village in Garhi Habibullah, where 54 coupons were issued.

Meetings and visitors

The 19th Pakistan Humanitarian Forum meeting was held at the CWS office in Islamabad. The agenda included: sharing of the latest figures for the earthquake; weather updates and what strategy should be implemented; information on the rehabilitation phase.

CWS shared that it is in the process of moving into the rehabilitation phase and will be sharing information about this soon. Another organization said that it is halting the rehabilitation phase in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and is now shifting its attention to the North West Frontier Province - Mansehra, Balakot, etc. Its focus will be on livelihood, skills development, agriculture, water and sanitation and livestock. Another organization shared that it will be focusing more on technical aspects.

The second part of the Sphere Project and Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International (HAP-I)/CWS-Pakistan/Afghanistan training session will be held in Abbottbad on Dec. 2. This round of training is the first in a series of trainings on “An Introduction to Sphere and HAP-I Principles, Standards & Indicators for Quality & Accountability in Emergency Response.” In the future such trainings will also be held in the field.

A UN logistics cluster meeting was held at the International Medical Camp (IMC) office in Mansehra. Representatives from CWS, Caritas, UNHCR, IMC and UN Joint Logistics Cell were present. The meeting discussed contingency plans, road networks and updates from various NGO and INGO activities in the field. The participants also discussed their future plans for relief efforts. Another UN coordination meeting was held in Mansehra, which CWS also attended. Participants discussed their interventions and future plans. It was stressed that more coordination was required for proper and smooth rehabilitation of the earthquake survivors.

The director of Diakonie Emergency Aid, Germany (an ACT member) was expected for a two-day visit Dec. 1 and 2. He was to visit Maira Camp, Battagram, Balakot City and the CWS tent village, Shohal Najaf.

Other visitors: Bishop of Peshawar (visited the Shohal Najaf camp); district coordinator of HRCP Mansehra (also visited the camp).

Sources of information: Web sites of Geo TV, AAJ TV, Dawn, Reuters Television Network, Daily Time and the Nation; field reports of CWS-P/A needs assessment team and Pakistan Humanitarian Forum meeting minutes.

Attachment to Situation Report:

Case study: "Schools are a ray of hope for children"
Microsoft Word document I 51 KB

Visit the Web site of Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan for regular updates.

Also, the Web site of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, which CWS is part of, is now operational and contains useful information about the NGO response to the earthquake.