Humanitarian aid agencies are improving tented camps holding over 30,000 quake survivors in Pakistani-administered Kashmir for the forthcoming Himalayan winter.
"The winterisation will be done through strengthening tents with wooden structures and a combination of plastic sheeting and corrugated iron sheets on the roofs," Margaret Vikki, head of the camp management team of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said in Muzzafarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, on Tuesday.
A donor-funded upgrade of some 40 makeshift camps, mostly located in Muzzafarabad, will be completed by mid-December at an estimated cost of US $3 million, the NRC manager said.
More than 75,000 people died and another 3.5 million were rendered homeless when a devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake ripped through parts of northern Pakistan on 8 October last year.
Housing suffered extensive damage in the quake. Some 600,000 rural and 30,000 urban dwellings were affected across mountainous terrain stretching 30,000 sq km.
Nearly 2 million quake survivors were forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters throughout last winter, battling the harsh weather.
Only an estimated one in four quake survivors have so far started rebuilding their destroyed houses. Tens of thousands are still living in makeshift shelters, many constructed up to a year ago.
Around 35,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to live in tented camps both in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
As part of the camp support team, the Norwegian aid agency, together with other NGOs, has been extending technical expertise to local authorities in managing transitional IDP settlements.
Meanwhile contingency planning for the upcoming winter in the earthquake zone is under way.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has just completed a winter-needs assessment to evaluate the most urgent requirements of the scattered mountainous population in the quake region.
The IOM survey, with results due next week, has been looking into the adequacy of existing shelters, availability of food and non-food items and accessibility to remote areas in 100 of the most quake-affected Union Councils - Pakistan's smallest administrative unit.
"The results of the survey would help the respective governments of NWFP and Pakistani-administered Kashmir to better understand the shelter situation in scattered mountainous hamlets and to adapt their contingency plans ahead of what could be a very harsh winter," Salim Rehmat, an IOM spokesman, said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
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"The winterisation will be done through strengthening tents with wooden structures and a combination of plastic sheeting and corrugated iron sheets on the roofs," Margaret Vikki, head of the camp management team of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), said in Muzzafarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, on Tuesday.
A donor-funded upgrade of some 40 makeshift camps, mostly located in Muzzafarabad, will be completed by mid-December at an estimated cost of US $3 million, the NRC manager said.
More than 75,000 people died and another 3.5 million were rendered homeless when a devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake ripped through parts of northern Pakistan on 8 October last year.
Housing suffered extensive damage in the quake. Some 600,000 rural and 30,000 urban dwellings were affected across mountainous terrain stretching 30,000 sq km.
Nearly 2 million quake survivors were forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters throughout last winter, battling the harsh weather.
Only an estimated one in four quake survivors have so far started rebuilding their destroyed houses. Tens of thousands are still living in makeshift shelters, many constructed up to a year ago.
Around 35,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to live in tented camps both in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
As part of the camp support team, the Norwegian aid agency, together with other NGOs, has been extending technical expertise to local authorities in managing transitional IDP settlements.
Meanwhile contingency planning for the upcoming winter in the earthquake zone is under way.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has just completed a winter-needs assessment to evaluate the most urgent requirements of the scattered mountainous population in the quake region.
The IOM survey, with results due next week, has been looking into the adequacy of existing shelters, availability of food and non-food items and accessibility to remote areas in 100 of the most quake-affected Union Councils - Pakistan's smallest administrative unit.
"The results of the survey would help the respective governments of NWFP and Pakistani-administered Kashmir to better understand the shelter situation in scattered mountainous hamlets and to adapt their contingency plans ahead of what could be a very harsh winter," Salim Rehmat, an IOM spokesman, said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
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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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