Thousands
of kilos of relief items are being airlifted by the Red Cross
and Red Crescent high into the snow-laden mountains of northern
Pakistan to assist earthquake-affected communities in extremely
remote locations.
Using United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) helicopters,
the International Federation and the Pakistan Red Crescent are
in the midst of a three-week operation shifting 166,000 kilos
of materials to locations in the North West Frontier Province’s
Allai Valley.
The “heliops” are part of a wider operation to assist
13,500 families across the North West Frontier Province and
Pakistan-administered Kashmir as cold temperatures and snowy
conditions persist.
The UNHAS helicopters are essential to get relief items, such
as corrugated galvanized iron sheets, shelter repair kits, tarpaulins
and quilts, into locations that cannot be reached by road. The
three areas in the Allai Valley, where the choppers are making
deliveries, would take two-to-three hours of lung-busting hiking
to reach by foot.
Some of the chopper loads are being delivered by sling. Up to
3,500 kilos encased in a net dangle underneath the helicopter
and are transported from a base in Muzaffarabad to the various
locations.
This method enables the UNHAS Kamov choppers to drop their load
without landing and return to base, speeding up the number of
rotations possible. However, flying at high altitude and delivering
loads to small drop zones surrounded by huge mountains demands
extremely precise skills and steady nerves from the pilots.
Pakistan Red Crescent Field Officer, Irfan Hameed, is supervising
the heliops on the ground. He and his team hike to the drop
zones, and organise unloading and distribution. He admits working
in knee-deep snow, in the midst of a Himalayan winter, is challenging.
“It’s tough! To get to this location at Gantar,
we had to drive as a far as we could for an hour and a half
and then walk another two hours to get here,”
he said.
Bearing the brunt of these conditions are the communities who
live in the mountains.
Harzat Bilal, a 25-year-old farmer supporting a family of six,
spent the first winter after the October 2005 quake in a relief
camp at a lower altitude. This year, he is toughing it out in
his village of Gantar, which is perched on the side off a mountain
range at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 feet).
“We went to Maira camp last year as there was nothing
left here… It is difficult this year, but we are rebuilding.
We were born here and we will be buried here, so we have to
cope with whatever the situation is,” he said.
With no other means of transport, Harzat makes two, two-hour
return trips to his home, hauling on his back the 10 sheets
of corrugated iron and a shelter repair kit distributed by the
Red Cross and Red Crescent.
In the more remote locations, like Gantar, there is a shortage
of fuel, such as wood to burn to keep warm, and people rely
on staying indoors and huddling under quilts to ward of the
bitter cold.
Each family targeted by the Red Cross and Red Crescent receives
four quilts, resulting in a total distribution of 40,000 over
the coming weeks.
With many affected people still to complete reconstruction of
their homes, the corrugated galvanized iron sheets are being
used to improve temporary shelters. Communities have told International
Federation that the sheets are more useful to them than tents
due to their durability and the fact they can use them in so
many ways.
The winter conditions are taking a toll on the health of communities
with an upsurge in acute respiratory infections.
One of the Red Cross and Red Crescent mobile health units in
the Allai Valley has reported a 30 per cent increase in patients
this winter. Recently, numbers have gone up to 1,000 patients
per week – numbers not seen since immediately following
the quake. There were so many respiratory cases that the unit
ran out of medicine and had to restock.
The International Federation and the Pakistan Red Crescent hope
to complete the winter assistance distributions in early February.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross and Red Crescent continues to provide
a range of assistance to quake-affected communities in areas
such as health, water and sanitation, livelihoods and reconstruction
as part of an operation which will continue until the end of
2008.
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Volunteers
move shelter repair kits after being airlifted to the
remote village of Gantar. The kits, which include hammers,
nails, wire etc, are used by people in conjunction with
the corrugated iron being distributed. (p15297)
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Sheets
of corrugated galvanized iron are pre-positioned for distribution
in the Allai Valley. Each family receives ten sheets and
a shelter repair kit. (p15299)
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The
helicopter operation is airlifting 166,000 kilos of relief
items to remote communities in northern Pakistan, which
are unreachable by road, including these people in Gantar.
(p15296)
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Red
Cross and Red Crescent staff take shelter as a United
Nations chopper heads back to base following delivery
of another load of relief items high in the mountains
of northern Pakistan. (p15301)
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Pakistan
Red Crescent Heliops Coordinator, Irfan Hameed, guides
in another sling load of relief items being delivered
by a United Nations Humanitarian Air Service chopper.
(p15300)
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