Narrow mountain roads, choked with the massive relief effort mounted in Pakistan's northern Kashmir region after the weekend's killer earthquake that claimed over 40,000 lives, were slowing down assistance to tens of thousands of survivors, writes Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
According to UN estimates, over two million people need to be rehoused, half of whom are in urgent need of medical help, food and warmth.
Dozens of ambulances carrying critically wounded were held up yesterday for hours in unending traffic jams on the only road linking the ravaged Bagh valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir to the rest of the country.
Mountain passes built for light vehicles, that crossed each other with difficulty in normal times, were now clogged with heavy lorries carrying relief material. Delays were extended interminably as volunteers offloaded them and helped drivers precariously manoeuvre them around.
Thousands of homeless survivors in remote mountainous areas, some accessible only by mule, face the prospect of being cut off before the end of the month when the harsh Himalayan winter descends, relief workers said.
British charity Oxfam said villagers desperately needed tents and blankets to prevent an outbreak of disease from the cold. "The winter is coming fast. Within three weeks thousands of people will have been cut off," Shaista Aziz, an Oxfam worker declared. On the Indian side of the disputed Himalayan territory, relief workers said essential supplies could make the difference between life and death for the villagers rendered homeless by Saturday's earthquake.
Over 1,300 people had died in Indian Kashmir while another 2,000 are missing, believed dead.
But even with the US deploying 10 massive Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, relief work remained severely deficient.
The Pakistan army, which is co-ordinating the relief effort, said another major problem was the number of people flocking to Kashmir, particularly doctors from across the country.
The army's deputy surgeon-general, Farrukh Seir, said these doctors, though altruistic, put immense pressure on the army to provide logistical support. "It is not doctors that are needed, but orthopaedic implants and related medical supplies," he said.
Earthquake survivors, Pakistan's feeble political opposition and media commentators joined others in attacking the Pakistani government's inept handling of the relief effort, prompting officials to respond by saying that no country could have possibly been prepared for such a massive calamity.
Acknowledging initial delays in organising rescue and aid details, President Pervez Musharraf said the relief operation was now in full swing and appealed for unity in a nationwide televised address.
"It took eight to 12 hours to collect information. We did not have an exact estimate of what had happened," he said.