Earthquake returns gather momentum

With the focus shifting from earthquake relief to recovery in northern Pakistan, more than 40,000 quake survivors have returned from emergency settlements to what’s left of their communities as part of the return process that began on 10 March, according to relief officials. “In North West Frontier Province (NWFP), eight camps are now empty in the Mansehra district, while two camps in the Battagram district emptied on Friday, meaning over 38,000 people have left relief camps since 10 March. Nearly 1,400 quake survivors have repatriated from relief camps in Pakistani-administered Kashmir,” Fatma Bassiouni, a spokeswoman for the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday. “The local civilian authorities running the Kund camp in Battagram are now working to transfer communal facilities such as toilets from the camp to the villages of those [who have] returned while other utilities like kitchens have already been dismantled and taken by the families going home,” Bassiouni added. According to the Federal Relief Commission (FRC), close to 300,000 quake survivors remain in tented camps in over 600 settlements across the quake zone. On Saturday, President General Pervez Musharraf said reconstruction of quake-devastated communities would officially begin on 7 April. Islamabad plans to assist the survivors with reconstruction grants and technical assistance. In addition, each quake-affected family that returns is entitled to a monthly subsistence allowance of approximately US $50 for six months. The city of Balakot is to be rebuilt in a completely new location after it was razed by last October’s earthquake. The city, home to 300,000 people before the quake, will be rebuilt in a safer location to modern design standards. No site for the new city has yet been identified, Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said. Balakot is currently located on a major geological fault line about 200 km north of the capital. Meanwhile, a mission comprising of representatives from 12 countries, the European Commission for Humanitarian Affairs (ECHO) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is visiting Pakistan this week to review the overall response to the earthquake by donors and the humanitarian community.