PAKISTAN: Boost to winter access in Pakistan quake
zone
Source: IRIN
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ISLAMABAD, 18 December (IRIN) - Additional cash has been made available by the Pakistani government to maintain road access across the hazardous
quake zone this winter, following a concerted lobby by the international aid community.Anwar Ul Haq, the United Nation's Area Coordinator for North West Frontier Province (NWFP), welcomed the move
and said it was critical that access to quake-hit communities be maintained.Keeping the roads clear from snow and landslides is seen as the key to keeping thousands of families within their mountain
communities and allowing them access to provisions as the harsh weather sets in, observers say. Ul Haq said the Pakistani government had in the last few days agreed to make up to US $415,000
available for the NWFP districts of Mansehra and Battagram, devastated when last year's earthquake ripped through the region, killing more than 75,000 and rendering more than 3 million homeless.The
news comes amid fears expressed by the international aid community that up to 50,000 people in NWFP could desert their mountain homes to escape the harsh weather and seek aid in government-run camps
for fear of becoming cut off in high-altitude villages by severe weather conditions.Temperatures in the Himalayan foothills devastated by the catastrope of 8 October 2005 can drop below minus 20
degrees Celsius, with snowfall during the winter months topping four metres. Ul Haq commented: "If the roads are kept clear it is less likely the people will come down from the mountains to seek aid
– if they know access is clear, they will stay. Obtaining the funding for road clearance as the winter sets in has been critical and follows a concerted lobby."He said the international aid
community had made a strong case to the federal government, coordinated by the UN regional office in Abbottabad."There was a gap and the federal government answered. We managed to secure what was
asked for," Ul Haq added. The money would translate into additional road clearing machinery and manpower during the winter.Mansehra-based District Coordination Officer (DCO), Shakeel Qadis Khan,
confirmed $165,000 had already been released last week for road clearing in Mansehra district by the provincial government, with the promise of more as needed. It would be channelled to the Works and
Services Department to keep roads and bridges open."Whenever and wherever there is demand the department will mobilise resources," Qadis Khan said, adding that the additional resources were
necessary due to a scaling down of the army presence across the quake zone.Some $83,000 has also been made available for road clearance across Battagram district, according to Ul Haq.Similar
concerns, he believed, to secure funding for road clearance across Pakistani-administered Kashmir did not exist, which he said drew funds directly from the federal government.AG/JL/DS
