PAKISTAN: The race to save hundreds of thousands of Pakistani earthquake survivors from the harsh Himalayan winter has been won, the UN said yesterday.
"There has been no second wave of deaths, no massive population movement down the mountains, no severe malnutrition, and no outbreak of epidemics," said Jamie McGoldrick, the deputy humanitarian aid co-ordinator in Islamabad.
Five months ago yesterday about 87,000 people died when a 7.6 magnitude quake shook Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier province. Another 1,300 died in Indian-occupied Kashmir.
But fears of a second wave of deaths were averted by a milder than expected winter and a helicopter-led aid effort. By this week an international air fleet, including US and British military helicopters, had flown more than 27,400 trips ferrying food, tents and medicine.
Aid officials admit many thorny legal and social problems lie ahead as government and aid officials concentrate on helping the 2.6 million survivors. A year-long recovery plan, funded by $6.2 billion (€5.2 billion) pledged by international donors, will begin next month.
Disputes over land rights are likely to be particularly troublesome. The army in Pakistan has ordered that tented camps housing some 200,000 refugees be emptied by March 31st.
But for some survivors, including farmers whose land disappeared under landslides and tenants without lease agreements, there is nothing to return to.