Pakistan: Earthquake aftermath - Reconstruction and resilience - UNICEF

By Midhat Ali Zaidi

Shangla District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - Nestled deep in the Hindukush Mountains, are several towns and villages, where the 2015 Earthquake of October 26th has ravaged the lives of many people. Until now, 271 deaths have been reported from different areas of Pakistan, mainly from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, while the number of injured exceeds two thousand individuals.

Shangla district has endured the highest number of deaths in Pakistan. Most of these casualties were caused due to collapsing building structures, which were damaged in the earthquake.

Here in Alpuri, the district headquarter for Shangla, the staff of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) - a partner of UNICEF is working day and night to assess damages to the schools in earthquake effected areas, to be able to respond to the urgent needs for reconstruction before the harsh winter sets in.

“Many of the schools have sustained partial damages in the earthquake, with cracks appearing in the roofs and support columns,” says Rashid, District Project Manager NCHD, emphasising that many of these building were already in dire need of repairs, having weathered snow and floods in the past. “We are making all efforts to collect data on the intensity and scope of destruction, in order to acquire funding and support for reconstruction of these buildings.”

The Government Girls Higher Secondary School Lilownai is one of the schools, which was damaged in the earthquake. The blocks which housed classrooms for the primary and higher secondary grades have been severely damaged by the strong tremors. Students from the effected parts are now sitting outside for their lessons.

“When we arrived at school the day after the earthquake, our teacher had already set up her desk in the compound,” tells Luiza Rehmat, a student 5th grade, whose classrooms now depicts the aftermath of a disaster, “it is scary to see what has happened to our classroom, and sometimes it is very cold when we come in the morning, but we are glad that our studies can be continued.”Still reeling from the massive tremors that shook this area, Luiza recalls how she felt during the earthquake. “We had just reached home when the earthquake struck, so we ran out of the house,” she says, explaining that her house is situated high on a mountain. Although they did not suffer from any apparent loss, she is scared of what may have happened. “It seemed like the earth would also shatter and we would fall, just like everything that was falling off the tables and shelves in our house.”

Many, however, were not that lucky. Hundreds of houses were destroyed, in the impoverished communities, residing high in the mountains, with no access to roads, making it difficult to bring building materials for reconstruction.Several miles from Alpuri, is the Basi village, where the houses are constructed high on the mountains. Residents of these mountains have to walk for hours to reach the roads, which connect them with civilization. Most of the inhabitants are women and children, as the men work far away in the coal mines of Balochistan.

Hadia, 8, a student of grade 2 had just walked home with her brother Hanifullah, 6, from her school down in the valley, when her mother Shabana shouted for them to get out of the house, as the earth started shaking. Soon after, Shabana came out carrying her 2 year old son, part of the house came shattering down behind her.

“I was scared that mother would never come out of the house, as the roof started falling.” Hadia confides, with a sad look towards what is left of their house.Her family now resides downhill, with their relatives, but she is often sent back to look for any household items they may be able to salvage from the rubble. “I have found some of the toys my little brother played with, but most of it is gone!”Hundreds of children like them are in dire need of assistance in the earthquake affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the winter months will bring several feet of snow. Most people were making arrangements by stocking up on food and supplies which could see them through the snowy winters, when they would not be able to leave home for months. But their lives seem to have taken a turn for the worst, with their homes now shattered and their belongings destroyed, in the aftermath of the earthquake.

There is an urgent need for humanitarian organisations to join hands with the government to restore normalcy in the lives of these people, who have lost their livelihoods to the deadly tremors.