A new emergency: 110 govt schools collapse, 603 partially damaged

Schools on mountains most affected, say officials.

PESHAWAR:

Buildings affected by the earthquake included 110 government schools which collapsed, while 603 schools in nine districts were partially damaged. 

“An initial survey shows 603 government schools in nine districts have been partially damaged by the tremors,” an official of the National Commission for Human Development told The Express Tribune on Tuesday. “In Upper Dir, a majority of schools are built on mountains; the count there is the highest.”

The data shared by district education officers and the commission showed in Upper Dir, 41 boys and four girls schools were destroyed while 123 boys and 57 girls schools were partially damaged. The Upper Dir DEO confirmed the damage.

In Lower Dir two girls schools were reduced to rubble while 114 other schools were partially damaged; in Battagram one school collapsed while 26 boys and 28 girls schools were partially affected; and in Abbottabad 100 boys schools were affected. In Peshawar, at least 29 schools were partially affected.

At least 16 schools in Swat were destroyed while 64 boys and 15 girls schools were partially damaged; in Chitral 15 schools were destroyed and 19 partially so; in Mansehra eight collapsed and 19 were damaged; and in Shangla, at least 23 schools were completely gone and nine were partially damaged.

Assessing losses

However, Provincial Disaster Management Authority is using a different method for surveys.

“We are collecting data on losses and damages from deputy commissioners,” said PDMA Spokesperson Latifur Rehman. “At this stage whatever data we have collected also includes count of those schools that were affected during the jolts.”

He added after counting damaged houses and schools, they will assess damages sustained by government buildings which will include partially damaged and destroyed government schools. “It will then be decided by the education department as to what action is to be taken for the affected school buildings.”

The PDMA data shows 2,097 houses were now unliveable while five were partially damaged in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2015.