Pakistani quake-hit areas still struggling to bring back life to normal

ISLAMABAD, Oct 8 (KUNA) — Two years back on the same day, over 73,000 people were killed and millions were displaced in Pakistans Kashmir territory and a large swath of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) when an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude shock these ill-fated areas.
Two years have passed and the government is still in the process of reconstructing the devastated areas for the local poor people, creating livelihood for them and re-building the infrastructure including roads, telecommunication, water and sanitation.
Marking the second anniversary of the tragic incident, President General Pervez Musharraf Monday said the earthquake challenge had been converted into an opportunity by rebuilding the lives of earthquake-affected people on modern lines.
He talking to newsmen said that better houses, state-of-the-art infrastructure including road network, healthcare facilities and educational institutions were being reconstructed.
President Musharraf said the United Nations and other international organisations had termed Pakistans efforts for the reconstruction of quake-devastated areas better as compared to the efforts carried out in the aftermath of Katrina and Tsunami.
In the post-quake situation, where incessant rain and snow add to the miseries of people, housing was the main challenge as about 2.5 million of the total population was rendered homeless.
A total of 28000 houses have been built while 338,000 are under construction and the work on about 15 to 17000 houses have not been started, said Deputy Chairman of Earthquake Reconstruction Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).
Responding to reports that a large number of people were still complaining of no housing assistance, he said only 6600 people were living in camps and government has already started a housing assistance program for them.
The good thing is, he said, that under this housing program we trained 610, 000 persons of local population and 200,000 local artisans that included plumbers, carpenters, and electricians.
He said the huge task of reconstruction cannot be done in one and a half years. Even Japanese took more than 10 years to reconstruction and rehabilitate their quake-hit areas, Tsunami is nowhere near us and as far as Katrenia is concerned they have not yet started, he added.
Kuwait was among several friendly countries that came forward to help Pakistan in this critical period and extended a grant of USD 100 million, half to be spent on immediate relief efforts and half to be on reconstruction program.
A state-of-the art 60-bed hospital was inaugurated by President Musharraf last year in Gari Habibullah that was first of its kind in the whole region.
On the occasion, a small ceremony was held Monday in the hospital in remembrance of lost lives and to thank the government and people of Kuwait for building the hospital.