Not to Forget the Devastation of October 8, 2005 Earthquake

It was a calm Saturday morning. The date was October 8, 2005. At ten minutes to nine, the heavens wrecked fury on the earth and it was all over in a matter of minutes if not seconds. Tremors and shockwaves demonstrated worst of seismic disasters known to the region. Ground was ripped apart, mountains were sheered triggering massive landslides and the multistoried buildings were razed to the ground in a flash. All that was left behind was the wreckage, rubble, corpses, blood, wounds, scars, hysterical fits, tears and agony. There was immense pain, trauma, shock and horror for those who had borne the brunt and were otherwise doomed but survived while it was again quiet and peaceful for the rest.

The news started pouring in gradually. Initially the number of casualties reported was five to ten. By afternoon it was a few thousand and in a couple of days the quoted figure was anything between 100,000 to 250,000. Whether the number of dead, as we debate today, was 73,000 or 150,000 with tens of thousands disabled and the number of displaced and directly effected 3.5 or 4 million, it is huge and mammoth by any measure or stretch of imagination.

All the major towns of the area were turned into the ruins. A momentary tide of tremors swept away villages and settlements wiping them out of the face of the earth with all the inhabitants swallowed only to be discovered days later. Infrastructure and communication links were completely lost and the paradise of northern areas and Kashmir was turned into a virtual hell.

Sorry tales of biting realities became talk of the town. Not to mention the massive material losses, every household of the effected area was shocked to discover a living soul amongst them lost or missing while several injured or disabled. As contacts were established with the known natives of the area, every eye was damp and every individual had a poignant narrative to recount. Several school going kids and government employees were nowhere to be found. The multi storeyed buildings and their inhabitants had vanished and succumbed.

On account of my association with the region ( both on the basis of work and my love for the land ), a few realities were thoroughly shocking. One of the influential families of Muzzafarbad left only two survivors while the rest disappeared with their towering hotel and office that sank into the river Neelum. In a similar happening, an old gentleman of Balakot lost his life when his office located on the riverbank gave way and slid into the roaring river Kunhar caused by a big rupture in the ground. One of the capitalists of Muzzafarabad was confined to the basement of his house, forced to reside with his big family in the servant quarter, after the building was completely demolished and his property and vehicle wrecked in the process.

I had the opportunity to travel through most of Azad Kashmir in mid 2006. The life was still far from normal even in the major cities of Rawalakot , Bagh and Muzzafarabad. Several people had to migrate while a lot of others had to seek refuge in makeshift camps that were established for interim relief. The road network could not be completely repaired. Rubble, devastated sites and abolished buildings were visible everywhere. Schools, government offices and buildings, mosques and multistoreyed structures and plazas appeared to have given in and yielded to the ferocity while the mud houses and smaller structures proved more resilient and seemed to have survived. People were striving for their survival and the business and activity were at a virtual standstill.

The capital city of Muzzafarbad was in complete doldrums. Prevailing miserable state of affairs was distressing in contrast to the blissful air of the town that I had witnessed during my earlier visit in July 2004. It was a sojourn in the town that was the starting point of our hike across the Makra peak terminating at picturesque Shogran in the Kaghan valley.

The massive devastation, for once sparked off the rally round the flag effect, bringing the jolted nation to a common rebuilding cause. International community promptly joined hands and came to the rescue. Volunteers, hailing from every nook and corner of the country, initiated daunting and exemplary efforts. Scale of the self-motivated philanthropic contributions surprised the world.

While there was exorbitant passion in the campaign anything that was missing in the whole deal was co-ordination and keen focus. Lack of proper patronage caused drift from objectives and wastage of the resources whereby synchronization was required. The initiative was ultimately lost somewhere in the middle while some of the efforts continued in disarray. There was a resolve and commitment to wade through the situation but thanks to the red tape and the vested interests of many, the process is now entirely derailed. We are yet to get out of the planning stage while people continue to strive for their survival braving the dilapidated conditions of the relief camps and craving even for the basic utilities of life.

Plan for the relocation of Balakot, one of the worst hit areas, has hardly gone underway. To be resited 23 kms away from its origin, it is only the land that has so far been acquired with some leveling activity and minor earth work going on. Any active development would have to wait, only God knows, for how long ! The devastated town on the other hand can only be best described as ‘ruins of Balakot’. While countless large structures were annihilated only a single double storey shopping center could survive the rage of fury on the doomsday. Even today, only sparsely located and reconstructed single floored buildings can only be seen scattered along the river where once stood the historic town of Balakot.

The masterplan of Muzzafarabad is yet to be finalized with nothing being done on ground. Details and plans are being repeatedly revised, as the administration has proved good for nothing.

While the cries of pain still echo in the horizon and reverberations of discontentment approach the eardrums, it is high time that we focus on the issue before it turns into a big social and economic disaster. The aftermath, for sure, was bound to accompany tremendous and multidimensional implications but unfortunately there is no easy way out. Unless any sincere efforts are undertaken and we decide to take the bull by the horn, the problems are only going to be compounded, rearing their ugly heads time and again, only managing to get increasingly menacing each time.