People in the town of Bagh, which means 'garden' in Persian, are trying to resume an ordinary life. Each morning, traders head for their shops, labourers to construction sites and workers to their offices.
But here, in one of the largest towns of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where an estimated 70-80 percent of houses were destroyed in last October’s devastating regional earthquake, there is no sense of normalcy.
Delays in finalising an ambitious new reconstruction plan for Bagh - a town of around 100,000 people located 90 km from the
capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad – as well as some disputes between stakeholders means many residents have still to be given ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs) to allow them to begin building houses.
As a consequence, makeshift shelters are visible everywhere and the city – known as the most picturesque in Kashmir – is still marred by heaps of rubble 12 months on.
But there is something else too which is immediately noticeable. In the open areas of the town, in its streets and around its tin shacks, few children play. This is extremely unusual in a part of the world where six children are the average number for each household, and the roads and open spaces are all too often their playgrounds.
"My house is now like a graveyard. My husband and three children died in the quake. Now there is just me and my six-year-old daughter, Attiya. She is still traumatised, and does not play like ordinary children," said Zeenat Mehmood, 30.
According to the United Nations, half of the 73,000 people who died in the 8 October quake were children. Some 18,000 of these victims were school pupils, killed as more than 6,000 buildings collapsed on top of them.
Pakistani military spokesman Lt-Gen Shaukat Sultan said in the days soon after the quake that "an entire generation had been lost".
In real terms, this devastating loss translates into villages where there are only a few children, or in some cases, none at all.
In many quake villages, each new birth is celebrated with much rejoicing by the entire community.
"We have distributed sweets, even though my wife has given birth to a girl. Usually it is only for boys that we celebrate in this fashion. But now, all children are welcome into this world so that their laughter can brighten our lives," says Nawaz Ahmed, 28, from a village around 10 km from Bagh.
The village lost at least 35 children under school buildings in the earthquake, including Nawaz's five-year-old son.
The story is the same everywhere. In Badhiara, a pretty village located about 20 km south of Muzafarabad, 49 out of its 50 victims killed were children. In Muzaffarabad itself, half of the city's school-age children were killed and statistics from other towns and villages worst hit by the quake look very similar.
Many of the children who survived remain deeply traumatised, with the lack of expert care or counselling available to them after the quake adding to their suffering. Many are still too terrified to go to school, recalling the screams and cries of dying classmates, and others refuse to sleep indoors, despite the chill creeping into the October air as winter approaches.
The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) began work in July to rebuild the 6,300 schools it estimated were destroyed by the quake.
ERRA believes the work will not be completed for another three years, but has set a target of having 25 percent of proposed new schools in place by 2007.
"This does not mean the children are not learning. Schools have been set up in temporary shelters or tents, and soldiers acted as teachers in the very early days," said Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed, deputy chairman of ERRA.
While the makeshift schools have helped many children resume at least some semblance of normal life, and teachers say the classrooms under canvas helped pupils recover from their fear of entering buildings, there are thousands who still remain out of school.
In some areas there are only a handful of surviving children in the educational centres set up by NGOs and charitable groups, and it will take years before the demographic balance in such communities rights itself.
Meanwhile, in cities like Bagh, many families say the slow pace of reconstruction is adding to the suffering of children. "We have had no home for over a year, my two children have often been cold, miserable or uncomfortable in the tin shelter we live in, and this can do nothing to help them overcome all that has happened here," Naveed Butt, 32, told IRIN.
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But here, in one of the largest towns of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where an estimated 70-80 percent of houses were destroyed in last October’s devastating regional earthquake, there is no sense of normalcy.
Delays in finalising an ambitious new reconstruction plan for Bagh - a town of around 100,000 people located 90 km from the
capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Muzaffarabad – as well as some disputes between stakeholders means many residents have still to be given ‘No Objection Certificates’ (NOCs) to allow them to begin building houses.
As a consequence, makeshift shelters are visible everywhere and the city – known as the most picturesque in Kashmir – is still marred by heaps of rubble 12 months on.
But there is something else too which is immediately noticeable. In the open areas of the town, in its streets and around its tin shacks, few children play. This is extremely unusual in a part of the world where six children are the average number for each household, and the roads and open spaces are all too often their playgrounds.
"My house is now like a graveyard. My husband and three children died in the quake. Now there is just me and my six-year-old daughter, Attiya. She is still traumatised, and does not play like ordinary children," said Zeenat Mehmood, 30.
According to the United Nations, half of the 73,000 people who died in the 8 October quake were children. Some 18,000 of these victims were school pupils, killed as more than 6,000 buildings collapsed on top of them.
Pakistani military spokesman Lt-Gen Shaukat Sultan said in the days soon after the quake that "an entire generation had been lost".
In real terms, this devastating loss translates into villages where there are only a few children, or in some cases, none at all.
In many quake villages, each new birth is celebrated with much rejoicing by the entire community.
"We have distributed sweets, even though my wife has given birth to a girl. Usually it is only for boys that we celebrate in this fashion. But now, all children are welcome into this world so that their laughter can brighten our lives," says Nawaz Ahmed, 28, from a village around 10 km from Bagh.
The village lost at least 35 children under school buildings in the earthquake, including Nawaz's five-year-old son.
The story is the same everywhere. In Badhiara, a pretty village located about 20 km south of Muzafarabad, 49 out of its 50 victims killed were children. In Muzaffarabad itself, half of the city's school-age children were killed and statistics from other towns and villages worst hit by the quake look very similar.
Many of the children who survived remain deeply traumatised, with the lack of expert care or counselling available to them after the quake adding to their suffering. Many are still too terrified to go to school, recalling the screams and cries of dying classmates, and others refuse to sleep indoors, despite the chill creeping into the October air as winter approaches.
The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) began work in July to rebuild the 6,300 schools it estimated were destroyed by the quake.
ERRA believes the work will not be completed for another three years, but has set a target of having 25 percent of proposed new schools in place by 2007.
"This does not mean the children are not learning. Schools have been set up in temporary shelters or tents, and soldiers acted as teachers in the very early days," said Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed, deputy chairman of ERRA.
While the makeshift schools have helped many children resume at least some semblance of normal life, and teachers say the classrooms under canvas helped pupils recover from their fear of entering buildings, there are thousands who still remain out of school.
In some areas there are only a handful of surviving children in the educational centres set up by NGOs and charitable groups, and it will take years before the demographic balance in such communities rights itself.
Meanwhile, in cities like Bagh, many families say the slow pace of reconstruction is adding to the suffering of children. "We have had no home for over a year, my two children have often been cold, miserable or uncomfortable in the tin shelter we live in, and this can do nothing to help them overcome all that has happened here," Naveed Butt, 32, told IRIN.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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