Access to snow-affected areas remains poor

Bad weather continued to hamper relief efforts in snow-hit Tajikistan on Monday, where access to affected areas remained poor more than one week after heavy snows first began. "The situation is very serious because many villages, particularly in remote mountain areas, are cut off and we don't know what people there are facing," Abdurahkim Rajabov, deputy minister of emergencies, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. "Thousands of people are affected," Ole Ramsing, manager of the UN's Disaster Risk Management Project in Dushanbe, told IRIN. "The problem is we don't know how badly affected they are," he said, citing poor communication as a primary concern. According to the United Nations Coordination Unit in Tajikistan, at least two metres of snow had fallen in some areas, severing communications between the mountainous state's key inhabited valleys and the capital. Worst hit was the Rasht Valley, east of Dushanbe and an important area surrounded by steep slopes, where over a hundred major avalanches had been reported in populated areas, trapping hundreds of vehicles, as well as causing the roofs of hospitals, schools and private homes to collapse. In the Tavildara district of central Tajikistan, there had been no communication with the district centre and almost 6,000 residents had been cut off. In these areas all communication lines are down. Within these regions, many villages are completely isolated from each other. Helicopters cannot fly to the affected areas either at present, as the snow is continuing and is expected by meteorologists to continue for three more days," the unit warned. Helicopter assistance ferrying food and other supplies to the isolated parts of the Rasht region was again cancelled on Monday due to bad weather. "It [the helicopter] has been postponed again today because of the weather. We are hoping for tomorrow," Ramsing maintained. Other areas badly affected were some districts of southern Khatlon region, as well much of the southeastern Pamir region. "They have lots of problems with roads closed, particularly to isolated areas," Ramsing said, noting, however, they had received no reports of casualities. "We have not received any assistance requests from the central government there," he added. According to Rajabov, more than 4,000 people had been evacuated and were currently being housed in schools, hospitals, mosques and other public buildings, requiring food, clothing and blankets. Meanwhile, Tajik authorities are working hard to mobilise bulldozers, trucks and work teams to clear the roads - some of which were currently operational. "They have a lack of fuel. We are trying to provide them with some from Dushanbe," Ramsing said, conceding the process was nevertheless proving to be slow. "Often they get stuck and some roads continue to be affected by avalanches." At present, the UN is working closely with the Tajik authorities, who have already appealed for heating fuel for some 6,000 households in the Rasht Valley and Khatlon areas alone. "The problem is that we cannot communicate with many of the areas affected and roads remain blocked. It is very difficult to get an overview of what the needs are and the actual number of people affected," Ramsing emphasised, adding the question now was how to get aid to the people in need. As of Sunday, the Tajik Ministry of Emergency Situations (MoES) had requested 50 mt of wheat flour, 40,000 litres of fuel to clean and open roads, as well as 60,000 litres of heating fuel for families. The MoES will provide logistical support in delivering any assistance provided by international organisations.