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| Victims of earthquake of April 2013 are waiting for government attention in Mashkel |
“It’s Ramazan, and we don’t even have clean
drinking water during this extremely hot month,” says Haji Shafiq, grief and
disappointment evident in his voice. “We are 10 people in the family and, for
months, we have been living under the open skies, with no adequate sustenance,
no healthcare. We are cut off from the rest of the country.”
Shafiq,
a local shopkeeper who lost his home and business when the earthquake
devastated Mashkail four months ago, is not alone in his misery. Thousands more
are suffering alongside and seemingly very little is being done to alleviate
their condition.
A deadly disaster
Mashkail
tehsil in Washuk, a district that shares a border with Iran, boasts a
75,000-strong population.
According
to Balochistan’s provincial disaster management authority (PDMA), over 34 were
killed and dozens injured in the quake. Furthermore, even more alarmingly, at
least 8,000 families are now homeless. Today, these families live without
shelter, and are forced to brave the scorching sun in a region where the
temperature shoots up to 47 degrees centigrade.
“An
estimated 20,000 people are homeless because of the quake,” says Abdul Kabeer
Reki, a local journalist.
Help wanted
According
to Reki, the PDMA has conducted a survey in Mashkail to look into the damages,
filled out 5,300 forms, but has not taken any concrete steps to this day.
Affected
residents M Hafeez Baloch and Rehmat Baloch reiterate the extent of damage.
Their houses, they say, have been demolished.
“The
weather is getting very hot, we don’t know how much longer we can live like
this,” they claim.
According
to Asif Lehri, the social sector manager in the non-governmental organisation
Balochistan Rural Support Programme, the delay in rehabilitation is because of
how the population of Mashkail is scattered.
“The
biggest problems right now are health and heat,” he remarks. “People are
getting sick, and are being compelled to construct homes on their own. It
should be the government that does that.”
The
PDMA has claimed that it has already concluded a survey of constructing a model
town. However, according to the victims, they have not been assured of such a
move at all. These victims have asked the chief minister, time and time again,
to personally take up the issue of their rehabilitation.
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| Adobe homes were badly damaged in Mashkel, caused a huge loss of life and property. |
What’s being done?
PDMA
Director General Mohammad Khalid Baloch says the authority carried out relief
work on emergency basis right after the earthquake.
“We
gave two weeks ration, tents and drinking water to the affected families
[immediately],”he claims. “The PDMA has done relief work, but not
rehabilitation work.”
According
to the DG Muhammad, the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority
(ERRA) official have already visited Mashkail.
“ERRA
told us to make Pro forma [assessing damages to see what action could be taken]
for rehabilitation of the affected people. We filled the forms and sent it back
but have not received a response from ERRA yet. However, the former caretaker
chief minister visited the area and did say that he will make a model town in
Mashkail. We have conducted the relevant survey.”
Other
PDMA sources also reiterate that work started as soon as the quake hit.
“The
provincial government has given Rs2.5 million to the government hospital in
Mashkail to ensure the health facilities for the affected people,” reveals a
source.
