Thousands of the earth quake affected people in the mountainous region have to brave a second chilly winter in temporary shelters. The government has not allowed reconstruction since it fears another quake could strike at any time. The shelters of the earth quake affected people neither offer protection from snow nor from rain. They have been through this since 8th October, 2005. It is like a disaster again, suffering constantly.

To cope with such a drastic situation, ActionAid ERP is supporting the conversion of prefabricated shelters into permanent shelters in remote and hard to access areas of Battgram, Bagh, Muzaffarabad and Mansehra. In this regard, total 598 vulnerable families were provided CGI, PGI and Lasani Sheets last month. These families were living in shelters which were only covered with cloths or tarpaulin sheets since last year.

As house hold sanitation remains a huge problem in the earthquake affected areas, ERP is also assessing the need of the community and providing latrines as and when required. To this end, material to 1093 families was provided. In Battgram and Muzaffarabad, men use to use combined latrines where as in most cases women do not have latrine and use open air area. The construction of latrines would definitely fulfill their basic needs.

In Muzaffarabad and Battgram, food and non food items were distributed to the most vulnerable and needy against contingency plan. Additionally, 251 stoves were distributed with a plastic mat to each family to the vulnerable families living in hard to access areas in Battgram.

As part of DEC II activities construction of additional community/health centers were planned. Activities are planned on the basis of need assessment. Looking at that, the construction of more community centers has been started in District Mansehra and Battgram.

All health centers are functional in all four field areas. In Mansehra, the health team provided crucial health services to the communities at the out break of diarrhea last month. In Muzaffarabad, apart from the routine activities in health centers, a Gyne camp was arranged on a community demand in Pothi village where a gynecologist from UNFPA examined 108 patients. The main aim of the camp was to provide gynecologists services to the women living in areas where there is no gyne specialist. During the reporting month, over 10000 patients were treated in all health centers in all four field areas. The percentage of children was 41%, men 22% and women over 40%.

The 2005 earth quake destroyed or diverted water supply. In this regard, the work is under process in 6 water supply schemes in Muzaffarabad, Mansehra and Battgram. In addition to this, in Mansehra, 2 hand pumps were completed where as work is in progress in more 6 water pumps in Mansehra and Battgram.

The destruction of schools was perhaps the greatest loss of the earthquake. Eighteen thousand pupils were killed in a matter of minutes in schools only as more than 6,000 buildings collapsed on top of them. Over a year on, few have been rebuilt. In this regard, ERP started rebuilding Khabal community school in Mansehra.

In Mansehra, construction for three flour machines started last month and the installation of Saw machine started in Sari, Mansehra. Moreover, 125 energy saver stoves were distributed in union councils Shamdhara and Oghi. These stoves would help in cooking and make them warm with less fuel.

To enhance the capacity of staff and local communities in the earth quake affected areas, in Muzaffarabad, Two days community midwifery training was arranged for LHVs and TBAs with the coordination of UNFPA. Besides the trainings, the health and hygiene awareness campaign was conducted at household and school levels.

The staff is regularly interacting with the communities in order to strengthen the community organizations.  In this connection, Muzaffarabad and Battgram field teams formed 14 village organizations in different villages, according to the criteria discussed in the last coordination meeting.

As part of policy work, the field teams regularly attend meetings with communities to know their problems and share their ideas with each other. In Bagh, a meeting of EVRM activists was held. They discussed several issues like delay of compensation, construction design of ERRA particularly that of the school construction and over charging of the electricity bills. Moreover, a seminar was conducted by journalists of Bagh on Bagh Master Plan. The minister of Reconstruction, DG SERRA, Opposition leader and some members from the district management participated in the seminar. They all rejected the plan.

Emerging Issues:

• One year after the earthquake people are still living in tents as many didn't get compensation to rebuild their homes.
• ERRA has developed "Winter Plan" however it is felt that if rehabilitation and reconstruction policies were successful there would be no need of this plan.
• The landless and tenants face immense problems regarding the reconstruction of their houses and they are the most ignored ones. Harsh winter season on the one hand and a lack of basic amenities on the other, the situation could become very hazardous for them.
• Costs of transporting material to high altitude areas are very high. As such the communities are unable to reconstruct their homes which are leading to desperation and bitterness in the communities.
• Even after one year of the earthquake unavailability of both skilled and unskilled labours causes delay in the reconstruction process. The rise in the rates of skilled and unskilled labour has also aggravated the situation of the poor communities.
• The unavailability of medical staff would create problems in remote and far flung areas especially in winter as the roads would be blocked due to heavy snow and land sliding.