100,000 quake survivors to live in camps till next winter: United Nations
At least 100,000 people left homeless after the devastating
Talking to reporters, Vandemoortele said there were several thousand homeless people who would have to live in the camps because their plots had been washed away or their native localities fell in a ‘red zone’ where the risks of further earthquakes are high.
The October 8, 2005 earthquake left 300,000 homeless, most of whom have started returning to their homes. “There will still be an estimated 100,000 people who will be living in the camps till the next winter,” he said.
He said that 10 camps would handle the leftover people that would include the physically handicapped, landless and others.
The UN official added that 18 other villages had been identified as vulnerable to massive landslides in the coming monsoon season in Muzaffarabad district and residents there were being evacuated and shifted to camps. He said that according to the AJK government’s estimates, 52,000 people would need evacuation.
Earlier addressing a news conference with Hina Rabbani Khar, the minister of state for economic affairs, after the launching ceremony of an ERRA-UN Early Recovery Plan, he said that out of $296 million needed for the one-year (March 2006 to April 2007) plan, authorities had received $107 million. “The remaining $189 million will be received within four months.” He said the plan presented to the donors on Monday would urge the donors to commit the pledged money to concrete project proposals.
He said that their emphasis would be on training and capacity development of human resource of the local governments in the affected areas. “The UN plans to set up 150 pre-fabricated basic health units and more than 32 schools during this year. The provision of seeds, farming tools and livestock will be one of the priorities for restoring livelihoods, especially for women in the affected areas,” he said.
The UN official said that some of the challenges foreseen for the coming months were landslides in monsoons and rebuilding of roads and bridges.
ERRA Director Brig Waqar said the authority was determined to transform the calamity into an opportunity. “We are advocating an owner-driven policy for the reconstruction of houses. At least 600,000 housing units are being planned with a cost of almost $3,000 for each unit,” he said.
Source: Daily Times
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