Quake 4: The Aftermath

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS - Sat 22 Oct, 01:16 PM
A Kashmiri earthquake survivor, made homeless by the Oct. 8 earth quake,
sleeps in debris in a street in the devastated city of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan

Just talked to my parents today. Again, the Earthquake was mainly what we talked about. Eid preparations have been toned down this year. A lot of people are still recovering from the psycological impact that the quake has had. However these peopple are still lucky becuase there are others who are dealing with much worse like the loss of families, homes, cities, neighbors, roads, trade, etc. I sent my parents the eyewitness account that I had posted on my blog. My parents thought it was just baloney. Although, there is no smoke without fire my dad said that the eyewitness account was full of exagurations. The fact that the author of the article is anymonos also reaises doubts about the credibilty of the article.

The UN is painting a bleak picture and Jan England ( UN emergency relief chief) commented on the Aid sent so far:

"This is not enough. We have never had this kind of logistical nightmare ever. We thought the tsunami was the worst we could get. This is worse."

An eye witness account of a journalist was also very moving:

"...............Stench from the dead, both humans and animals, became unbearable as we approached Bagh City. Destruction was widespread and civil life was totally paralysed. Poor and the privileged suffered equally. Such calamities have an eerie egalitarian character in terms of their unfortunate consequences. Like elsewhere in Azad Kashmir, children's casualties were staggering. Many hundreds, reportedly, lay dead under the rubble of one Springfield School in Bagh City. I saw one unrecognisable corpse being recovered. On October 14, six days after the earthquake, debris was being removed with bare hands.

Relief activity was taking place chaotically. In many instances people just threw relief goods on the roadside as they got stuck in traffic jams. Residents of Bagh valley had much better access to what was coming while those in the mountains got nothing or a trickle. Out of the massive relief goods that were arriving in Bagh, as a fair guess, at best one fourth was reaching where it was required.

The local army commander told me that people had suffered comparatively more on the heights. Helicopter support, tenuously dependant on fair weather, was desperately trying to keep their lifeline open. Army mule trains were also augmenting this effort. A Spanish medical team was briskly at work next to the helipad. I was told that an Army Division was being deployed to gear up relief work. The Army was taking control of the situation as on my way back I saw troops deployed for protection along main routes and the Military Police was attempting to facilitate the traffic flow.

Following the Bagh experience, it is recommended that within the disaster zone relief goods should be handed over to the Army authorities or to other agencies that have both the information and the capacity of sending them where they are most needed. Secondly, relief activity at any scale requires sound organisation in ensuring what is sent is consistent with the needs at the destination; that it is delivered with 100 percent surety; and that stern accountability ensures its correct end usage.

It was after visiting Bagh city and its adjoining areas that I sensed the scale and scope of the calamity. While I have made a mention of the visible damage, what could not be seen was even more disturbing. The local population seemed gripped by fear and terror. There was no safe shelter to sleep; water was being used from polluted sources. No functioning hotel and market catered for the basic needs. There was not even a safe mosque, the ultimate refuge, to pray from.

Those who could were fleeing the city. Most, however, had no option but to stay. Disillusionment had robbed many of the will to fight. One grandmother who had lost two of her grand children echoed such sentiments. Children were rarely to be seen. Those visible wore grim expressions. Break down in family structures had made the infirm more vulnerable. A young girl who required major foot surgery was being physically carried by some distant relatives as her father and brother had died. Medical treatment that she needed was not to be found short of Islamabad.

However, nobility in human spirit was to be found among the victims. Here I would like to make a mention of one person whom I saw standing very dignified while relief goods were being distributed in Batal area amid the familiar clamouring. On inquiry I found out that his name is Sarfraz and that eight members of his immediate family had died in the earthquake. While he admitted that he did not have much to live for, he still maintained his self-respect. Sarfraz typifies the steely resilience of countless who are learning to suffer in silence.'