Winter fears for quake survivors

12 April 2012

Tens of thousands of survivors of last year's Pakistan earthquake are at risk due to a lack of permanent shelters for winter, British charities have warned.

Around 1.8 million people face a second winter in makeshift shelters and tents while recent landslides and flooding have also left many quake survivors vulnerable, Oxfam has reported.

According to the charity, the Pakistani authorities, in charge of the reconstruction of homes in the area, said only 17% of the people in the 450,000 affected households have started to build permanent homes.

More than 40,000 people are still living in 44 permanent camps in the two areas - Pakistani-administered Kashmir and the North West Frontier province - and Oxfam estimates that up to 60,000 more could arrive from villages.

Oxfam is calling on the Pakistani authorities to do more to ensure quake survivors have adequate protection against the elements.

The British Red Cross said around 66,000 families still without permanent shelter were at risk, but they were ready to step in and help those in need.

Matthias Schmale, director of the international division at the British Red Cross, said: "There remain vulnerable communities, and together with many others we in the Red Cross are trying our best to ensure these people are equipped to survive the approaching winter."

The Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement plan to provide shelters for 13,500 families across the North West Frontier Province and Kashmir.

The organisations are preparing to distribute more than 8,300 tents, 135,000 sheets of corrugated galvanised iron, 13,500 shelter repair kits and 27,000 tarpaulins for quake survivors.

More than 73,000 were killed by the earthquake last year and a similar number injured. India said nearly 1,400 died from the October 8 quake, which registered 7.6 on the Richter scale, in the sector it administers.

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