Quake relief operation resumes after three-day suspension

Humanitarian agencies on Wednesday resumed some of their relief operations in northern Pakistan after a three-day break due to heavy rain and snow across much of the quake-affected region. "An emergency operation has been launched for the mountain communities, which have been cut off in recent days following the heavy wet spell. We are trying to expand our relief operation wherever possible," Saleem Rehmat, a spokesman for the International Organization of Migration (IOM), said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad on Wednesday. Between 2 and 3 million people have been living in tents in makeshift camps or crude shelters patched together from their ruined homes since a powerful earthquake ripped through parts of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir on 8 October killing more than 80,000 people and rendering another 3.5 million homeless. "Everything is wet and people are shivering in soaking tents. Mountaintops that were still bare before Christmas are now covered in snow. It is worrying," said Isabelle Giasson, IOM's field coordinator in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. "About seven teams with 300 plastic sheets each have been fanning out across Muzaffarabad city to provide assistance to locals in protecting their tents from the rain," Rehmat said. The helicopter-dependent quake relief operation ground to a halt after heavy snow and freezing rain hit quake-affected areas of NWFP and Pakistani-administered Kashmir on Saturday, leaving more than a metre of snow in many places. The weather triggered landslides, which blocked many roads in the quake-affected areas. "Overall, the relief operation had been suspended since Sunday, with relief staff restricted to their respective bases for security concerns due to unstable road conditions. However, now the [helicopter] flights have been resumed from Islamabad to all quake-hit areas," said the IOM spokesperson. Relief workers in the field report that many quake-survivors are still in need of emergency shelter, particularly in the Allai area of Battagram district in NWFP. "Providing aid to these people will be significantly more difficult as roads in the area have been among the hardest hit by the recent landslides," the IOM spokesman said.