Closed or destroyed roads hamper relief effort

Ramzan Khan, 42, has moved in with relatives. His wife and six children cramp the tiny house belonging to his uncle, Muhammad Rafiq, 64, in the town of Nouseri, some 20 km from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and close to the epicentre of the 8 October regional earthquake that has killed at least 60,000 people in three countries. But no one is complaining. "At least we are all alive and safe. Nothing else matters for the moment," says Rafiq, pushing aside one of the string cots that has sprung up everywhere in his three-room house. Schoolteacher Ramzan and his family began walking down from their village, past the town of Athmuqam in the Neelum Valley, four days ago. It took them that long to cover the 100 km to Muzaffrabad and then on to Nouseri. All roads are blocked because of earthquake damage, so the only way through is on foot. "I have seen the state of the main road leading into Neelum Valley. It has totally vanished under landslides. It will take many months to repair it," Ramzan said. The state of the 30-km road means no aid by land can reach people like Ramzan and his family, located high up the valley. This was a key factor in his decision to move to a more accessible area, leaving his damaged house, as he says, "in the hands of God and our neighbours”. The Pakistani military has acknowledged it could take many more weeks to open the Neelum Valley road. "There are many landslides, it will take time," said spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan, speaking to IRIN in Nouseri. He estimated at least three more weeks. Others in the area believe it could take four months, or more. "Large portions of the road have vanished. It is buried under landslides and in some cases parts of the collapsing mountain have swept it away. “The rebuilding will take many months and winter conditions will make it harder," an official from the district administration in Muzzafarabad said. Just moving the heavy equipment needed to clear the road into the area is a huge logistical challenge. At the moment, the only way would be by helicopter, but they are needed for higher priority work – ferrying food, shelter and medicine to survivors and bringing the seriously injured down to makeshift medical centres for treatment. This is of course nothing short of a disaster for the thousands still stranded in hamlets scattered among the mountains of the Neelum Valley, where 100,000 people live. The Pakistani government is now convinced that, with even intensified helicopter relief operations still inadequate to meet the many needs, it has become imperative to ask people to move down to tent villages cropping up in and around Muzaffarabad for the winter. But many people are understandably reluctant to abandon what’s left of their homes. Others in the mountains are suffering from injuries that prevent them hiking the long distances along goat tracks to the towns. In other areas too, it is proving a struggle to open roads. The 13-km Thakot-Bana road, providing access into the Allai area of the Battagram district, has repeatedly been hit by fresh landslides. Continuing aftershocks have contributed to the rock falls. Roads leading into the Kaghan Valley and parts of Kohistan, one of the country's most remote areas, also remain closed almost one month after the quake. These seasonal roads often shut down over the winter months in any case. Those working on them warn that once snows start to fall, the routes will not be usable until the spring – April or even May. The sheer inaccessibility of many quake-hit areas has been a key factor handicapping relief operations. The inability to provide aid by land is thought to have already contributed to the growing death toll, which continues to rise, even though more and more teams from the military, relief agencies and local NGOs have been able to trek up to high ground over the past week. The efforts of villagers in clearing smaller paths have assisted in this, with some relief goods getting thorough by mule, but not in the quantities needed to help an estimated 3 million vulnerable people facing the oncoming winter. There have been proposals of a bridge into the worst-affected areas of the Neelum Valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir from neighbouring Indian-administered Kashmir. However, it is feared that even if political considerations are overcome, this too could take many weeks. The opening up of five crossing-points along the Line of Control (LoC) - the frontier that divides Pakistani- and Indian-held portions of the disputed territory of Kashmir - has however been widely welcomed. Many Kashmiris have relatives across the frontier. "We are anxious about my sister in Uri, and wish to find out if they are all well,” Muhammad Rafiq said. Uri was one of the worst-affected towns in Indian-administered Kashmir. Others hope that aid coming across the frontier will ease the situation in areas such as Neelum Valley. Despite rapidly shrinking resources, more giant Chinook helicopters are taking to the skies to bring emergency assistance, but it is obvious that the situation in many villages to which roads remain blocked is extremely bleak, aid workers say. The death toll in some of these isolated communities is still not clear. Nor is it known how many injured people still await help.