As relief commissioner in Uri after the earth quake, Does Bashir Ahmed Ruinyal did justice with the people of Uri. Please comment. Quake survivors in Kashmir still left out in the cold (URI, India, Oct 26) - Indian quake survivor Altaf Husseins patience has worn thin. Every day for the past 10 days he has queued for kerosene from government trucks, and every day he has gone back empty-handed. As winter closes in, villagers like Hussein say little or no relief has reached this devastated mountain region -- which accounted for more than half of the 1,300 deaths from an October 8 earthquake in Indian Kashmir. Tens of thousands more died in the Pakistani sector of divided Kashmir. In this town, people are talking about non-availability of blankets and food, said Hussein, wearing old woollen clothes against the bitterly cold winds sweeping across the Himalayan peaks. Look at this long line of people waiting for days to get basic kerosene to cook food and burn firewood to keep us warm. In this town, where 90 per cent of houses were levelled, Hussein was one of more than 100 men with empty cans lining up near a government fuel truck, hoping that luck would favour them. Though the trucks began arriving 10 days ago, they have only brought a limited supply of kerosene. Water and food are also in short supply, but fuel is an especially pressing issue here, at 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) altitude, where most villagers now sleep in open fields or tents often crowded with more than 10 people. I have a ration card, Hussein shouted, as other villagers joined in. I am not one of those people who want something which is not legal... It has been 10 long days. Where is the administration? What are they doing? The government acknowledges the scale of the disaster in the worst-hit districts of Uri and Tangdhar, in Indian Kashmirs northwest, where it says 90 percent of the 40,720 homes were destroyed. The state government has promised 100,000 rupees (2,200 dollars) to the families of those killed by the killer quake, and 60,000 rupees to those who lost their homes. Bashir Runyal, Urris relief commissioner, dismissed the villagers allegations as totally baseless and said relief has reached the nook and corner of the mountains. Those areas which were not reachable earlier have also been reached, he told AFP. More than 30 million rupees have been disbursed in Uri for relief along with 2,000 tents and 70,000 blankets. The government was now in the process of constructing 31 large community halls to accommodate the survivors in the harsh winter days ahead, he said.We are doing that on a war-footing, and by November 15 all the monetary disbursements will be complete. But despite the promises, villagers say they have seen little aid so far. Except for the 11 kilogrammes (24.2 pounds) of rice which we got a week back.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 09:54:06 +0000
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