Protests mark sombre October 8 anniversary
A school which has still not received a roof due to fund depletion in Balakot. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The Balakot city wore a sombre look as people stood motionless at 8:51 am on Thursday to observe the 15th anniversary of the October 2005 earthquake which claimed over 80,000 lives and altered the landscape of the region.
Some people demanding the construction of the New Balakot City blocked the Kaghan Highway for over eight hours.
The main ceremony to mark the day was held at the Balakot High School where a minute’s silence was observed at 8:51 am. Residents, including quake survivors and their heirs, prayed for those who perished in the natural disaster.
Markets in the city and adjoining areas remained shut to show solidarity with those who had lost their loved ones. Traders staged a protest by blocking the Mansehra-Naran-Jhalkand (MNJ) Road, repeating their demands for the reconstruction of destroyed buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals and water supply schemes in the area.
Further, the Tehreek New Balakot City, a movement for the establishment of the New Balakot City, blocked a segment of the Kaghan Highway as they staged a protest in favour of their demands.
As a result, the road from Ayub Pull to Kaghan Highway remained closed for traffic, creating a traffic snarl-up on the road, causing difficulties to commuters, both local and tourists.
The road was opened up only after Hazara Commissioner Sameer Lagari visited the site along with the Mansehra District Police Officer (DPO) to hold dialogues with the protesters and convince them to open the road.
The protesters complained that the funds launched by different governments for their rehabilitation were redirected towards other projects and that not a single brick has been laid to build the new city in the 15 years since the tremblor.
They further claimed that the incumbent government has violated orders of the Supreme Court (SC) on restarting work on the project.
The commissioner assured the protesters that he will take up their issues with senior government officials after which they dispersed and the flow of traffic was restored.
According to data provided by the Provincial Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (PERRA), some 2,959 schools and colleges were destroyed during the earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale.
By 2019, ERRA had pledged to rebuild 1,132 schools. Of these, 707 schools have been completed, while 246 schools remain under construction and another 179 school buildings are currently in the process of tendering and designing.
Similarly, the construction of some 358 schools has been sponsored by non-governmental organizations (NGO), of which 346 schools have been completed while five schools are under construction and the remaining seven are in the design phase.
The earthquake also destroyed or damaged nine health facilities in Balakot, including the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and eight basic health units in other areas of the tehsil. All nine projects remain under reconstruction.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2020.