Brick by brick : Compensation announced insufficient for rebuilding

Affected home owners say amounts announced not even enough for demolition

PESHAWAR: Owners of homes damaged by the October 26 earthquake asked for more financial assistance from the government, saying the amount announced for reconstruction was not enough.

“Life after the earthquake is every difficult and we live in constant fear,” said 60-year-old Ghulam Husain whose home has visible cracks. Even though the structure is unstable, 32 members of his family are living under a roof that could fall on their heads at any given moment.

He said the compensation announced by the provincial government was not even enough to raze the house, let alone reconstruct which is a hugely expensive proposition.

Hussain said the family is still waiting to be registered by the district government to receive the compensation announced by the federal and provincial administrations. His 10-marla house is situated in Dhaki Munawar Shah and both storeys have cracks on the walls, ceiling and pillars.

A room for Rs0.3m

The federal government announced Rs0.2 million for the owner of each destroyed house and Rs0.1 million for inhabitants of partially damaged ones.  Special Assistant Mushtaq Ghani announced identical compensation with the addition of Rs60,000 for houses with damaged boundary walls.

The October 26 earthquake did not affect much of Peshawar, but there were houses which developed cracks, especially older ones in the walled city and those in villages surrounding the provincial capital. These included Sufaid Sung, Mathra, Warsak Road and Panam Dheri for which the district government said a damage assessment was taken.

However, owners of affected houses contradict the government claims, saying none of them had been contacted by any authority.

“At present, it is difficult to construct even one room with Rs0.3 million,” said rickshaw driver Taj Muhammad. “How can we reconstruct our house?” he asked. “We are not even sure whether we will receive any compensation.”

His house is also situated in Dhaki Munawar Shah. Taj said the family was lucky the whole structure did not crumble over them. Despite the wide cracks in the walls, he and his brothers stay in the house while family members were sent to live with relatives.

Needs versus compensation

“We need at least Rs 1million to Rs 1.2 million to build a modest abode,” said Taj. He added the family doesn’t have a single penny to make their house. He was another homeowner who was unsure whether the government would provide compensation, but stressed that the amount needed to be increased.

“We have asked the nazim to come to our house and assess the damage, but he has turned a deaf ear,” he said. Taj said the house is no longer fit to be inhabited. The district administration said they would assess all the damage suffered by each house and provide compensation accordingly.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2015.