With the first snowfall of the season in upper Neelum and Jhelum valleys, Rawalakot and Haveli districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, most of the humanitarian organisations have halted their operations in quake and flood-stricken areas.
“The relief and rehabilitation operations have been temporarily suspended on Friday as high-altitude areas of the flood affected region received winter’s first snowfall and plains took lashing of moderate rain, compounding the miseries of homeless flood victims,” Mubashar Niaz, chief of HEED Association, a humanitarian organisation told The Express Tribune after arriving in Muzaffarabad from Neelum valley.
We have temporarily called back our technical and volunteer staff engaged in humanitarian work in Jagran areas of Neelum district after receiving reports that winter conditions are severely hampering the relief and development operation in the area, said Niaz.
“Our organisation tried to race against time to complete ongoing projects but the weather did not allow for it … we will resume our operation as soon as weather conditions improve,” he added.
Islamic Relief Pakistan (IRP), which is providing over 700 shelters to the families rendered homeless by the floods, has also temporarily suspended its operations in the upper belt of Neelum valley and is now focusing on other areas of Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Hattian districts.
“More than 600 flood-affected families have been provided transitional shelters before the snowfall,” said the regional manager IRP Sajjad Khan at a UN-Habitat emergency shelter cluster meeting in Muzaffarabad.
The snow and rain have practically cut off Kandol, Mattoo and Drahr villages in Jagran valley as the foot bridges, connecting their 4,000 inhabitants with the rest of the area, have been washed away by the floods. They do not have any alternative road networks or means of communication.
“Our children cannot go to schools and the sick cannot be transported to hospitals because of the absence of a bridge over Nullah Jagran,” said Syed Abid Shah, a resident of Kandol village.
Three government schools washed away by the floods have yet to be reconstructed while their students continue to take lessons under the open sky in freezing temperatures.
“We are trying to build a temporary shelter for the school as soon as possible to house over 60 children of Daba Misra village,” said Khizar Hayat Abbasi, programme coordinator of HEED Association. Construction work on the project will resume after the weather conditions improve, he added.
Meanwhile UN-Habitat which has been leading and coordinating the emergency shelter cluster in Azad Kashmir since the floods has also ceased its operations and handed over the responsibility to International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Pakistan.
Raja Arshad Rashid of IOM replaced Ikram Yaqoob of UN-Habitat as the emergency shelter cluster coordinator and the organisations working under the UN-Habitat umbrella have assured their support and cooperation to the new cluster coordinator.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2011.
