The schoolchildren without a roof

The earthquake that devastated Azad Jammu and Kashmir five years ago continues to disrupt routine life.

MUZAFFARABAD: The earthquake that devastated Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) five years ago continues to disrupt routine life, especially for thousands of children who are yet to see their schools rebuilt.

Since the 7.6 magnitude temblor flattened a significant part of the territory in October 2005, students from government schools are studying in tents. For some, there are no tents either and the classes are held without any shelter.

The earthquake had razed to the ground hundreds of schools in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot districts of Azad Kashmir and killed 18,000 children, most of whom were buried under the rubble. The extent of destruction reflects the poor quality of construction under government supervision as building contracts are often awarded on political grounds and against paying bribes to officials in the public works department.

Children are worst affected in the harsh winter conditions, which have already set in the earthquake and flood-stricken areas of AJK. The condition of tents has also deteriorated over the years.

In the state capital Muzaffarabad, primary classes are conducted either in tents or under the sky in the city’s largest schools, including Ali Akbar Awan High School and Govt Model School Gojra.

“Our schools are not good...our teachers make us sit in tents and sometimes even without any shelter at all. I don’t like this school,” said an eight-year-old girl Amna Bibi, who studies at the Girls’ Primary School Gojra.

The Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) had to rebuild some 2,800 schools in the affected districts of AJK. However, only around 600 of these have been built in the past five years. It took two years to merely finalise the design and layout plan for the schools.

The State Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (Serra) had been facing a shortage of funds for reconstructing schools and undertaking new projects for which the bidding process has been completed.

“What can we do? We are forced to run the school in these damaged tents and under the sky. You can see that the building they started reconstructing two years ago has not been completed yet. The reconstruction work is very slow and no one is here to take notice of the matter,” said Nazir Hussian Qadri, headmaster of Government Boys’ Model School Bagh situated in the heart of the quake-devastated city.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2010.