TIMERGARA: Chilly weather following snowfall on hilltops and rain in plain areas on Tuesday multiplied miseries of the quake-affected people living in tents or in hujras of their relatives in Dir.
An administration official in Lower Dir told Dawn that over 6,000 families had been living either in tents or in single-room accommodations at their relatives’ houses.
Abdul Ghaffar, a resident of Ari Kallay near Munda, told Dawn that his house was destroyed in the Oct 26 earthquake and his eight-member family had been living in one tent for the last 15 days. He said that though he had been provided with Rs200,000 for rebuilding his house yet he was unable to do so due to shortage of financial resources and bad weather.
Khan Mohammad of the same village also complained about the government’s apathy, saying that his family had to spend nights in tents despite the severe cold weather.
Khurshid Alam, whose family is staying with a relative in Maidan, told this correspondent by phone that 14 of his family members were living in a single room for the last 15 days.
He said that Rs200,000 were not enough even to remove the debris of his damaged house and lay its new foundation.
“My family needs more tents, quilts, blankets, warm clothes and food items because I can’t arrange all these things on my own,” Mr Alam said. It has been raining with intervals for the last two days, while snowfall has been recorded on hilltops in Maidan, Samar Bagh, Maskini and Bin Shahi.
Lower Dir deputy commissioner Irfanullah Wazir told Dawn that the district administration was aware of people’s miseries. He said that the demand for more tents had been conveyed to the provincial authorities.
The affected people also feared collapse of their partially damaged houses in case of more snowfall and rains.
The people complained that the NDMA and PDMA provided tents only to those families whose houses were destroyed, but left those whose houses were partially damaged. Nawab Ali, a resident of Banda, said that his house collapsed on Monday night, but luckily the inmates remained unhurt.
In Upper Dir, snowfall and rains have increased problems for the earthquake victims.
The hilly areas, including Lowari Top, Nehrgah, Komrat, Thal, Gowaldai, Usheri Dara and Brawal tehsil, received snowfall while it rained in plain areas of Dir Khas, Qulandi, Bibyawar, Darora, Wari and Sultankhial Dara.
Police said that Lowari Top had received up to six inches of snow. The local met officials said that Upper Dir had received 20mm of rain. The weather turned chilly as people wore warm clothes.
However, the quake-affected people complained about shortage of blankets, warm garments, shelter and food.
The affected people said that it was impossible for children, women and elderly people to bear the chilly cold in tents.
They said that most of them had one tent for 15 to 20 members of a family and a few blankets, which did not meet their need.
Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2015
