Balakot residents mark 15th anniversary of quake

Government yet to repair scores of schools

BALAKOT:

Sirens at 8:52am will mark the 15th anniversary of the 2005 earthquake that destroyed the Balakot city, killed thousands of people and left many injured, displaced and missing.

A special prayer will be held at the mass grave of the students of the Government High School. Shops will remain shut till 10am in memory of of over 5,000 casualties including 250 schoolchildren in the earthquake that lives on in the memory of the people.

People of Balakot will observe the 15th anniversary of the earthquake which killed thousands of people and destroyed the Balakot city where the government has yet to reconstruct hospitals and schools.

On October 8, 2005 at 08:52am, some 80,000 people died and houses were destroyed when an earthquake of 7.6 magnitudes hit Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The deadly earthquake had brought a wave of destruction in the Hazara division particularly in Balakot and surrounding areas. According to the figures for Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (PERRA), 2,959 schools and colleges were destroyed and less than half of the destroyed building could be rebuilt.

At least 1,100 schools were destroyed in the Mansehra district but less than 300 have been partially reconstructed.

On the 15th anniversary, the survivors are still waiting for the reconstruction of schools and health centres.

Owing to the delay in the construction of New Bakriyal city where the affectees of the 2005 earthquake would be accommodated the people of Balakot would stage a protest on October 8 and also block the road. The devastating earthquake of 2005 destroyed buildings and infrastructure of Balakot, unfortunately, rehabilitation projects have not been completed even after 15 years, no complete schools and hospital facilities are available in the earthquake-hit areas of Balakot which are now called red-zone being high-risk area for construction.

The government had promised plots in New Balakot City for 3,600 families of Balakot red zone who are the victim of 2005 earthquake. However, Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) had finalised allotment letters of over 1,000 families and handed over only 300 allotment letters of plots.

A team of experts had declared the 1,400-acre area of Balakot and Garlat as a red zone warning that more earthquakes could occur here.

According to geologists, two fault lines are passing through the area heading towards Pattan and Hindu Kush Mountains due to which construction in this red-zone will be unfeasible.

In view of the reports of geologists, the government cancelled the resettlement process in Balakot and Garlat, and came up with plan to relocate the people of red zone.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2020.