Muzaffarabad – Five Months after the Disaster

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February 23, 2006

So, at last I am going to Kashmir, the earthquake affected area. The departure was with an NGO, Dannish Muslim Aid. The organization name bears the name of the country mostly infavorable in many Muslim countries. Rashid, the guy from the NGO told the driver, a Pakthan from Peshawar, to say that we were from ‘Ganesh’ instead of ‘Danish’ whenever anybody ask.

Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Azad= Free), one third of Kashmir which is under Pakistan control, is a winding 4 hour journey through the Murree Road. For Rashid, the trip was extremely unbearable. He tried to make himself fall asleep instead of tortured in the “uppar-niche” – up and down journey. Murree itself is among popular place for vacation for locals, as there are several tourist buses passing the area.

And the Punjab province meets its end in the border town of three provinces: Punjab, NWFP, and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK). In Daval, the main road runs between two big rivers, on the left is the NWFP and on the right is AJK. The road goes until the end of Punjab, just before a bridge connecting to the right mountainous areas of AJK.

Arriving in Muzaffarabad, refugees tents are everywhere. Rashid said that the people were afraid to go back to the buildings, because the earthquakes still come often, at least once in three or four days. The tents still might be the best choice of the refugees. Though, the city of Muzaffarabad seemed quite busy, wide-spread, and crowded. The activities have run quite normally, and the electricity is free after the disaster.

I attended a meeting of the NGOs in the UN camp. The moderator said that some of the most crucial programs at this moments are : rubles removal/recycle, summerization, emergency shelter, water and sanitation. The hot summer is coming soon, after the chilling winter. And the refugee’s comfort and sanitation might be the next important things to consider before the summer heat fall to the valley.