PAKISTAN: Dire need for shelter as earthquake survivors endure fifth night

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 12 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - Communities made homeless by Saturday's powerful regional earthquake urgently need shelter and warm clothes as cold winter weather saps the energy of hundreds of thousands forced to camp in the open throughout northern Pakistan. The earthquake, that has killed at least 30,000 people and injured many more, has left over 2.5 million people homeless.

"The shelter situation is a serious problem at the moment and in view of the cold weather, rain and snowfall across the mountainous region, tents should be winterised," Andrew Macleod, spokesman for the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, said in the capital Islamabad on Wednesday.

"But one of the ironies of this disaster is that most of the emergency tents and shelters that are made for the UN system around the world are made here in Pakistan and the companies here are running out of stock now. So, we actually need to increase the capacity of Pakistan to produce tents for itself," Macleod said.

The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday at least 15,000 tents - able to withstand worsening winter weather - were needed in the city of Muzaffarad alone. The city, 100 km northeast of Islamabad, was virtually flattened by the earthquake. A further 116,000 tents were also needed to provide emergency accommodation for those made homeless in rural areas.

Some shelter is being distributed. UK-based Islamic charity, Islamic Relief, has distributed some 500 tents along with food, blanket and plastic sheets to more than 5,000 vulnerable families in the most badly affected parts of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Better weather expected on Thursday means more aid convoys will be able to reach isolated communities that have to date received no assistance at all.

"The complexity of the operational response to this disaster is huge. Frequent landslides block the roads and many, many locations are inaccessible without helicopter. It’s a race against time involving tremendous complexities, Jan Vandemoortele, UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan, said in Islamabad.

[ENDS]