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‘Quake toll — 10,000 dead, 15,000 injured’

By Javed Afridi

PESHAWAR: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani said the death toll from the affected areas of the NWFP is 10,000, while 15,000 were injured.

Addressing a press conference after attending the National Security Council meeting in Islamabad, the chief minister said the rehabilitation of the earthquake victims would require Rs 20 billion, adding that another Rs 12 billion would be required to rebuild the infrastructure, including school, colleges, hospitals and other buildings.

Earlier, the NWFP information minister fearing the death toll would reach hundreds of thousands in the NWFP alone said most of the causalities were reported in Mansehra district, where 4,957 people died and 5,350 were injured. Talking to reporters after a briefing over the current situation in the earthquake affected districts of NWFP, the minister said thousands of people were still stuck under the rubble. He said the total population of the affected districts was more than 3.2 million according to the 1998 census, which he expected to have increased to four million. “Up to 90 percent of the affected districts have become graveyards,” the minister said.

The minister said the government was taking steps to rescue the trapped people, adding that the process was time consuming.

“We must understand that a large area has been affected by the earthquake,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the NWFP Governor’s Relief Cell on Wednesday sent eleven truckloads of relief goods to Allai, Mansehra and Shangla areas for distribution among the victims. The relief goods include food, blankets, clothes, water and milk. Efforts are underway to send relief goods to the most inaccessible and worst affected areas of Allai, Batagram and Garhi Habibullah. The Relief Cell, working round the clock, has been set up by the NWFP governor to collect donations, relief items and essential goods Senior officials in the governor’s secretariat are coordinating and looking after the relief operations to ensure that donations collected from tribal and other people reach their target. Special arrangements have been made with the Army Aviation for the prompt delivery of the emergency goods. The Health Directorate in the FATA have sent three mobile hospitals equipped with state of the art facilities, in addition to sending doctors, paramedics and medicines worth Rs 5 million.

Similarly, arrangements are underway to send four ambulances along with medical staff and medicines worth Rs 5 million to Mansehra, Shangla and other devastated areas. A German company and its Pakistani subsidiary, Merck Marker (pvt) Ltd, donated a large amount of money to the Citizen Foundation Earthquake Relief Fund (CFERF). The CFERF, in a two-phased strategy, is providing systematic relief to the survivors of the earthquake in the Northern Areas and Kashmir. Merck Marker employees will also donate one day’s salary. The owner of Cherat Cement Company, Aslam Farooq, has donated Rs 50,00,000 to the Chief Minister Relief Fund.

Mr Durrani, during the meeting, mentioned a cheque of US$ 10,000 from Chris Seiple, head of the Institute for Global Engagement (United States) and thanked him for his generosity.

The chief minister said the efforts of the NWFP people were a sign of unity, confidence and kindness. He said the provincial government has directed the departments concerned to speed up the relief efforts, adding that Rs 200 million has been released for this purpose. “One million rupees for the families of people who died and Rs 25,000 for the injured will be distributed. Rescue operations have gained momentum and the relief goods are being dispatched to the affected areas in the proper way,” he said.

Syed Qalb-e-Hassan Khan, an NWFP assembly member, called upon philanthropists, civil society organisations and other wealthy people to donate more funds and relief goods. The goods are collected at a relief camp arranged by the district government in collaboration with the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD). On the occasion, a truckload of relief goods including blankets, warm clothes, shawls, jackets, shoes, milk, biscuits and other edible items was sent to Shangla district. Up to 40 volunteers also went to Shangla to take part in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the demolished homes.

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