I request the government to put in extra efforts to help the affected people.
KARACHI: I would like to draw the attention of government officials towards the reconstruction work in the areas hit by the 2005 earthquake. It’s been over seven years since the earthquake disaster occurred. The rehabilitation process, no doubt, will take long; and it is not just physical rehabilitation that I am talking about, for it cannot come without emotional and economic rehabilitation. One essential aspect of this process is that the donors keep the aid pledges that they had made soon after the earthquake. The need of the hour is that the resolve of the government must also not weaken until the job is over. Here, I want to draw attention to the fact that the wastage of time and resources may lead to serious consequences.
At a meeting, in the first month after the earthquake, it was decided by the then government that the reconstruction work would be completed within the next six months. It also appeared that the government is looking to settle the uprooted people of the quake-hit areas and some small amount as subsistence allowance will be given to each affected family for the next six months. It has been six years now and while there has been improvement, there is still a lot left to be done. I request the government to put in extra efforts to help the affected people to enable them to recover from the losses and start rebuilding their lives.
Madiha Rasheed
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2013.
