This Christmas, a second wave of death? – The Belfast Telegraph
December 19th, 2005
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/article953544.ece
A year ago images from the tsunami disaster in Asia shocked the world into a relief effort that raised millions of pounds. By contrast the earthquake disaster in Pakistan has attracted only promises of money. In this impassioned article, Simon Roughneen argues that without our help, this Christmas, people in the region face even greater horror.
Destroyed buildings in Kashmir (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
As the Himalayan winter hits the three million left homeless after the October 8 south Asian earthquake, a vastly underfunded relief effort threatens to end 2005 with another humanitarian disaster.
UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Jan Egeland recently described 2005 as ‘the year of disaster’, as first the Indian Ocean tsunami, the food crisis in Niger, Hurricane Stan, Hurricane Katrina all left destruction and death in their wake.
Egeland and his boss UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan recently launched the 2006 UN Consolidated Appeals for 2006, seeking $$US4.7 billion to alleviate suffering in 26 countries marked by disaster or conflict. (more…)
South Asia Earthquake Relief Effort May Be Too Little, and Far Too Late – The Sunday Independent
December 13th, 2005
As we await Christmas, millions made homeless by the earthquake await a merciless winter, says Simon Roughneen.
The drive across Azad Jammu and Kashmir would ordinarily be a compelling experience for any traveller. The 10,000 foot-high Himalayan foothills provide a backdrop of stunning beauty. Pine trees cover the rocky slopes, and in the horizon, the snow-peaks of the Karakorum and Himalayas emerge between the lower peaks in this desolate area of northern Pakistan.
Kashmiri city of Bagh was badly-affected by the earthquake (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
But these snow-peaks are a harbinger of a different reality for northern Pakistan. What Kofi Annan terms ‘the merciless Himalayan winter’ has arrived – with snow on densely-populated higher ground, hundreds of cases of pneumonia, and children already dying. Another harbinger. On Tuesday 6 last, the Pakistani met office forecast an even harsher than usual winter for Kashmir and the northern areas. (more…)
Afghan quake sparks fears in Pakistan – ISN
December 13th, 2005
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=13844
A 6.7 magnitude earthquake has struck northern Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountain range, causing no reported casualties, but sparking fears in neighboring Pakistan of a repeat of the massive October earthquake there.
Taking place at 21.47 GMT on Monday, this latest jolt was a brief reminder for the traumatized people of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) of the 8 October earthquake that killed some 80,000 people and left more than three million homeless. (more…)
Stepping on the graves of children – The Voice
December 7th, 2005
Winding down from over 7000 feet in the Himalayan foothills, you wouldn’t know they were there until you almost stood on them, digging up the recently-laid turf with your boots.
But it is difficult to forget that sites, and sights, such as this are now common across northern Pakistan.
17,000 of the estimated 80,000 plus dead from the October 8 earthquake are children, many of whom were crushed in their schools as the buildings came down around them.
Here, children were buried in this small plot beside their fallen home (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
At our feet are the plastic-sheeted graves of three sisters, 7, 9, and 11 years old. With debris and rubble strewn across the area, already a maze of rocks, forest and twisting footpaths, it would be all too easy to miss this improvised cemetery.
With the post-quake pre-winter relief effort now a race against time, relief workers literally race from site to site to do all that is possible to save lives. (more…)
Gone in 60 seconds? – The Irish News
December 7th, 2005
http://www.irishnews.com/pageacc.asp?tser1=ser&sid=510155
Well, according to the Prime Minister of Pakistani-controlled or ‘Azad’ Kashmir, it was a bit less: ‘what we have achieved over the last 40 to 50 years has gone in 40 to 50 seconds’.
School building badly-damaged by the earthquake (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
But according to the relatives of those who died in the October 8 earthquake, the now 3 million homeless, it was just thirteen seconds.
Thirteen seconds to kill over 80,000 people, including over 20,000 children. Thirteen seconds to make three million homeless, to destroy almost every school and medical facility in the region, to destroy the infrastructure and livelihoods
Much faster than anything in the ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ Hollywood no-brainer from a few years’ ago. (more…)
Snowfalls and Shortfalls – Herald AM
December 5th, 2005
As the line of tractors and trailors snaked up the coiling roads toward Chilandrat, 5600 feet up in the Himalayan foothills, the second in the convoy railed against the incline and rubble. A payload of corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) sheeting dragged the ancient Massey Ferguson open-top back downhill, straining against the engine horsepower.
Tractors stuggle to ascend winding hill roads to deliver winter shelter to the homeless (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
At a hairpin bend just 250 metres from the given distribution point for 2900 CGI sheets, enough for almost 300 families to construct temporary warm-room shelters, the overstretched engine finally gave out. The tractor went as far is it could before giving a chugging cough eerily akin to the onset of acute respiratory infection (ARI), a looming health challenge as winter hits the 3 million homeless in northern Pakistan. (more…)
Winter Darkness Descends – Irish Examiner
November 29th, 2005
Last weekend, the weather in Europe took a turn for the worse. A sudden outbreak of freezing weather swept much of the northern part of the continent, disrupting lives and livelihoods. Sadly three homeless French people and one more in Brussels died over the weekend.
In eastern Kashmir, we felt a change in the weather as well. As snow started to fall over the village of Rangla, 6,000 feet up in the Himalayan foothills, everyone understood this does not mean just a temporary cold spell. Rather, it means “the merciless Himalayan winter”, as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described it in a November 19th press conference in Islamabad, after touring the earthquake zone.
After seeing the first-hand conditions on the ground, and knowing what is to come, Mr. Annan was visibly moved.
Sometimes you need to see and feel something for yourself before you can understand it, before you can understand the need to act on it.
So after Europe’s recent cold spell, perhaps we all can begin to understand the disaster that is about to befall northern Pakistan. (more…)
As the snows come, where is the hard cash? – Reuters Alertnet
November 22nd, 2005
http://www.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefresources/113265758224.htm
The drive across Azad Kashmir would ordinarily be a compelling experience for any traveller. The 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) Himalayan foothills provide a backdrop of stunning beauty. Pine trees cover the rocky slopes, and on the horizon, the snow-peaks of the Karakorum and Himalayas emerge between the lower peaks.
But these snow-peaks are a harbinger of a different reality for the people of northern Pakistan. In the five weeks since the October 8 earthquake, the 3 million homeless have been contemplating how to survive what will be a harsh winter, where the distant snow will soon pile up in banks of 3-12 feet (1-4 meters) outside their tents and makeshift shelters.
During a three-hour drive from Bagh, a city where 75 percent of buildings were destroyed, to Muzafferabad, scene of 90 percent destruction, we saw countryside of almost ethereal beauty. But just about every building within view has been ruined.
This same countryside will be a solid white landscape in two or three weeks. Temperatures will drop to minus 10 degrees or maybe minus 15 degrees Celsius (5-14 degrees Fareinheit). Many roads will be impassable. (more…)
Pakistan to get over US$5bn in quake aid – ISN
November 21st, 2005
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?ID=13572
Governments and international organizations have pledged to give over US$5 billion in aid to earthquake-stricken Pakistan.
At a UN- and Pakistani government-sponsored conference, attended by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, over 50 nations and donor organizations on Saturday made promises exceeding the amount sought by the Pakistani government, the UN, and the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
The money, which is to be given over to emergency relief and long-term reconstruction, is mainly in the form of low interest soft loans. (more…)
She had thirteen seconds, we have at least thirteen days – Reuters Alertnet
November 15th, 2005
Maheeda Muzafar wraps her shawl around her face, despite the 22 degree heat.
But in the month since the south Asia earthquake, life has been far from normal for the people of this region.
Row of shops at Malot,collapsed after the earthquake (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
On October 8 last, Maheeda and her husband lay sleeping in their mud-built house, 1800m up on a Kashmiri valley.
At 8:11am, as the ground shook them from their slumber, they ran for their lives. Maheeda made it through the front door before her husband, only to turn around and see him crushed by the collapsing debris. ‘I turned and I saw him covered. He slipped while we ran to the door.’
Donna Smith heads up the GOAL relief operation in the Bagh district, close to the earthquake epicentre. She said: ‘This earthquake has been a tragedy for everyone. But the tragedy will continue, even get worse, in the next few weeks. Time is running out fast. We are in the foothills of the Himalayas, a severe winter is coming, and hundreds of thousands of people are not guaranteed adequate shelter.’ (more…)
