Northern flood and landslide victims await compensation

Immediate intervention is required to rehabilitate infrastructure in northern districts of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), a UN official told IRIN. The call follows heavy rains and snow in January and February of this year that killed hundreds and severely damaged houses, roads, schools and hospitals in isolated parts of the province. "Despite the official announcements, no steps have been taken so far to help the affected people and compensate for damage to houses, livestock and agriculture," Dr Quaid Saeed, co-ordinator of the UN interagency co-ordination committee in NWFP, told IRIN from the provincial capital Peshawar. "The people [affected] are already poor and this year's unexpectedly intense winter has exposed them to more difficult situations." According to the provincial relief department, at least 390 people were killed in avalanches, landslides and flooding, while scores more were injured. In addition, over 26,000 houses have reportedly collapsed and more than 76,000 been partially damaged in 24 districts of NWFP. Relief authorities had announced compensation ranging from US $67 to $117 per household depending on the type of damage suffered, with another $8 to $16 in compensation to cattle owners. "The provincial government has scant resources while a huge amount of some 340 million rupees [approximately $5.6 million] is required to go ahead with the rehabilitation proposals for which we are still awaiting funds from federal government," Arshad Abbasi, an official at the provincial relief cell, told IRIN from Peshawar. The international community has donated over $4.5 million for emergency relief support, with some $2 million coming from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) launched a massive relief operation in February across rain, flood and snow-affected areas in the southern province of Balochistan, as well as northern NWFP and parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Some 1,158 mt of wheat flour and 145 mt of edible oil worth $500,000 were distributed to needy families by WFP.