(by Sheila George 11th October, 2005)
EFICOR responded to the Jammu &
Kashmir earthquake by deputing its staff on behalf of the Disaster Co-ordination
Committee (DCC) to make assessment of the damages and need of the affected
victims for emergency relief at the earliest. The quake occured at 9.20
am on Saturday, measured 7.6 on Richter scale. The death toll in Saturday's
earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 927, including 619 in Baramulla
and 301 in Kupwara, the worst-affected frontier districts (The Hindu dated
10-1-05). It has been reported that the massive quake injured 3000 people
and damaged 4597 houses in the state. Tangdhar in Kupwara district close
to the Line of Control along with Uri region in Baramulla district is among
the worst-affected areas as they are in proximity to the epicenter of the
quake in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
Our staff Franco and Athui representing the DCC who visited the site assessed the following damages:
They started from Anantnag to Baramulla town which was limping back to normal life. While proceeding to Uri just about 40 kms away earthquake victims blocked the road for an hour demanding money from all the vehicles passing by. The army came to their assistance and had the road cleared for them to pass through.
Uri, in Baramullah District which is just 7 kms from Pakistan, 102kms from Srinagar and 160kms from Anantnag out of total 95 villages 65 are completely damaged and 17 villages are inaccessible.
Salamabad which had 400 houses 90% of them are completely destroyed. There were six deaths in the village. Kamalkot with a population of about 1000-1500 families, 270 perished in the earthquake and around 90-95% of the houses are completely destroyed. The Army and the Air Force continued rescue operations for the third consecutive day, evacuating people by helicopters and sending medical team to the villages. Rain hampered the rescue operations.
Relief operations
The immediate need for the earthquake affected are tents, blankets, warm clothes, water, cooking vessels and medical needs. Depending on the DCC's decision later today, EFICOR will address the needs of the affected communities for emergency relief.
The local administration plans to set up 14 relief camps in Uri and provide food through community kitchen. It is not very clear for how long.
With the Sphere India Management Committee contacting J & K Government for relief assistance, NGOs are now welcomed to conduct relief operations. The DCC is already in contact with three organizations working in the state to commence relief operations as soon as the relief materials arrive.
Sphere India
EFICOR participated in Sphere Coordination meeting of the NGOs in Delhi. Information were shared by each of the organisations present. The Committee members contacted the J & K government which was open to meet the Sphere Members for relief . The next meeting has been schedule for 13th October at 3.00 pm at IFRC in Disaster Management Resource Centre, New Delhi.
For any queries, funding indication, pledge or donations, please contact the following address.
EFICOR
308 Mahatta Tower
B Block Community Centre
Janakpuri
New Delhi 110 058
Telefax +91-11-25516383/4/5
Email:eficorhq@vsnl.com
Website:eficor.org