Aftermath
Insurance Companies received 15 claims against quake damage
“About 15 or 16 insurance claims have been received in Islamabad,” said the general manger of a leading insurance firm on condition of anonymity.
The quake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Pakistan on October 8, causing widespread damage. Its epicentre was located 100 kilometres north of Islamabad. According to sources in the insurance industry, each claim varies between Rs 200,000 to Rs 500,000 – depending on the intensity of the damage to the buildings mentioned in the claims.
US troops to leave quake zone from March 21
American troops engaged in relief and reconstruction activities in
Quoting US sources, Geo television reported that the withdrawal of American troops will conclude in a few weeks. More than 1,000 troops reportedly arrived in Pakistan after the October 8 earthquake. According to Geo TV, Gen Peter Pace, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, will visit Pakistan next week for talks on security issues.
The US has already handed over its field hospitals to the Pakistani government and the remaining will be handed over to non-government organisations, the channel said.
Return of quake survivors from tent villages begins
The
Reports reaching from the quake-affected areas say people in camps at various localities were seen packing their belongings and heading towards their native villages in line with the NWFP government’s decision of closing all camps by March 31. The repatriation would be completed in three phases.
Over a hundred families, according to reports, left for their villages located on the hilltops on the first day of starting the process from a government camp in main Battagram.
Mobile banks to function in quake-hit areas
The ministry of finance and commercial banks have agreed that
No fee or charge would be realized from affectees for opening and operating accounts. The condition of maintaining minimum balance will also not apply to the accounts of earthquake affectees in AJK and the NWFP.
Monsoon a new threat to quake survivors
The approaching monsoon season poses new dangers of flooding for
The huge pile of earth and boul ders has blocked two streams, forming dams that could collapse in a rainy season. The government has determined that the dam collapse would inundate Hattian Bala and destroy a nearby bridge, Lt Col Zulfiqar Ali Janjua, an army engineer, said.
Kingsley to appear in Pakistan earthquake documentary
The documentary by director
Kingsley, who spent five days in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday that he would like to eliminate the phrase, “We must respect our differences,” from the “lazy vocabulary of political rhetoric.”
Earthquake survivor Siamese twins died
Conjoined female twins born to a 9 October
The twins were joined from chest to abdomen at the rib cage and shared a heart and liver.
Their mother, Shazia, gave birth to triplets on Saturday. A boy, born with the twins, is reported to be well.
Shazia and her husband had walked for hours from their quake-hit village to a hospital in Neelum valley on Friday.
The couple were then flown in an army helicopter to a hospital in the capital of Pakistan-administered
Photos from Quake Zone
Poster in Balakot: How to stop lung diseases
Still smiling
Source: Karachi Photo Blog