ACT News Update

South Asia 0305

Geneva, October 14, 2005—Despite the many complications of delivering desperately needed relief to earthquake survivors, including reaching remote areas, bad weather and aftershocks, Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan (CWS-P/A), a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, was able to air drop shelter kits in Allai village, an extremely remote village in Batagram District that was badly affected by the earthquake, yesterday in collaboration with the Pakistan Army.

In the next few days, CWS (P/A)-ACT plans to air drop more shelter kits in other remote and badly affected areas that are extremely hard to reach by road. Nights are becoming cold, making the living conditions unbearable for survivors. The combination of factors prompted CWS (P/A)-ACT to respond quickly by collaborating with the army and begin using its helicopters to provide shelter materials.

In addition to the material aid delivered to Batagram District, a team remains in the district, assessing the situation and providing up-to-date information. The team is also interviewing survivors directly about their needs.

Yesterday an assessment team from ACT member Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), which is supporting CWS (P/A)-ACT, joined staff outside the town of Batagram, a six-hour drive from Islamabad, where the military has established a distribution center. The relief aid, including 1,600 shelter kits from CWS (P/A)-ACT, are being transported to mountain villages by helicopter from there.

Immediate needs and ongoing ACT response

The demand for tents and blankets in Pakistan is huge, NCA-ACT has reported. Planning together, the two ACT members are expanding their activities in the field, and NCA-ACT has been asked to supply winterized family tents as well as warm quilted blankets. The 85 metric tons of supplies will be drawn from the Norwegian Emergency Preparedness System in Norway. The first flight with 40 to 45 metric tons of tents will leave Oslo on Sunday, and the remainder will be shipped next week.

NCA-ACT’s activities will be included in the upcoming ACT appeal for the response to the earthquake in Pakistan and are being planned with CWS (P/A)-ACT, the Pakistani authorities and UN/UNDP. NCA-ACT will also carry out water and sanitation activities in close cooperation with UNICEF.

Damage and living conditions

An NCA-ACT communicator reported from the town of Batagram that it and other mountain villages in the area are severely damaged. He reported signs of destruction in the area on the way to Batagram, but less severe than in Muzaffarabad because it is farther west of the epicenter of Saturday’s earthquake.

Small and large aftershocks have continued to shake parts of the country since Saturday morning’s initial earthquake. Aftershocks as large as magnitude 5.6 hit already devastated Muzaffarabad Wednesday night, but there were no initial reports of casualties or damage. Aftershocks also rattled Mansehra and Islamabad on Thursday morning. So far, some 400 tremors have shaken northern Pakistan since Saturday.

With the help of U.S. and German helicopters, relief operations in Azad Kashmir, one of the hardest-hit regions of Pakistan, were becoming fully operational on Wednesday. However, hundreds of thousands of survivors remained desperate for help as they continued to spend nights outside in the cold. The army’s spokesman said clear skies after torrential downpours on Tuesday had allowed for more flights to bring badly needed food and medicine and to take away the injured.

Residents of towns and villages across northern Pakistan and parts of Kashmir are living in desperate conditions as many complain of aid being too slow in reaching them. Fighting and looting erupted in Muzaffarabad when trucks carrying relief supplies arrived this week, but helicopters have made it possible to bring tons of food, water, medicines, blankets and tents to hard-to-reach areas. Pakistan’s air force has established a base at Muzaffarabad airfield for relief support to survivors.

Muzaffarabad’s health director was reporting that malaria and other diseases were already breaking out. But with hospitals damaged and many doctors killed in the earthquake, providing health care in the affected areas is extremely difficult. Diarrhea is also a problem because the water supply has been cut off and people are drinking whatever they can. The UN said there was also a risk of cholera and pneumonia.

The sewage systems are not functioning in all the affected areas as well. According to CWS-P/A, because of cultural requirements of modesty, women are relieving themselves only after darkness. The majority of women are used to staying indoors and are now feeling particularly anxious as they are forced to be in the open.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday said the National Security Council has decided to set up an Earthquake Rehabilitation Authority to coordinate the rehabilitation process at the government level.