Underfunded aid agencies were struggling today to head off a second wave of deaths in Pakistan as a bitter Himalayan winter closed in four weeks after a giant tremor killed more than 73,000 people.
The United Nations welcomed President Pervez Musharraf's decision to postpone a purchase of F-16 warplanes from the United States to free up more funds for emergency relief, but stressed this did not solve a funding crisis.
"We are meeting day and night around the world to secure more resources," UN emergency coordinator Jan Vandemoortele told reporters. "It is not less urgent, the job is not done."
The United Nations has been seeking $550 million from donors for emergency work, but has received only $135 million so far.
With three million people needing shelter and at least a million short of food in the mountains of Kashmir and North West Frontier Province, Musharraf has expressed frustration at the world's failure to respond generously.
He complained that the world had donated more generously to last year's Asian tsunami because many Western tourists had been caught up in that disaster.
With aid budgets drained by disasters elsewhere and appeals falling on deaf ears, the UN now has to tailor its quake relief to the money available, said spokeswoman Amanda Pitt.
"We have to decide what we can do over next four weeks with the money we have got," she said. "We have the expertise and people on ground, but underfunding will obviously impact the numbers of people we can reach."
"We are very worried there could be another wave of deaths, because of disease, cold, lack of shelter and unsafe water. And the figures from the government are clearly going to rise as more villages are uncovered." The October 8th quake was the strongest to hit South Asia in 100 years and flattened whole towns and villages.