Absence of communication links is increasing the threat of food insecurity in Neelum Valley, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned here on Sunday.
“Lack of communication links has made access of the WFP and the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to people faced with food shortage extremely difficult. The threat is likely to multiply in the coming days,” WFP spokesman Amjad Jamal told Pakistan Today.
He said communication has always been a serious problem in the area and grieved that the situation had further deteriorated due to main road, rural link roads, connecting bridges, community physical infrastructure, walking tracks, foot bridges, electricity and telephone damages in the recent earth quake and floods.
“High transportation costs, repeated blockages of road network and internal land locks due to land slides have exacerbated after the flood and the earthquake,” Jamal said. He added the food insecurity has reached an alarming level as the people had lost all possessions in the natural disasters.
He said the Neelum Valley has traditionally been underdeveloped due to security as it is located close to the Line of Control (LoC). He also informed that the AJK’s government had pre-positioned food to stave off the danger. However, poverty was so high in the area that people would not be able to buy food.
When asked of what the WFP was going to do to eliminate the threat in the offing, Jamal said that a “Kitchen Gardening” programme had been designed by the WFP, keeping in view the exigency of the matter. This would not only help women fulfil food requirements of their families, but would also allow them to sell food items.
“Almost 1020 women have been given free training of ‘Kitchen Gardening’ and free seed, enough for the five marla land to grow vegetables at their homes”, informed Jamal. He further said the devastating flood had badly affected the communication system, caused severe food shortage and had left a large number of people without shelter.
“District Neelum is one of the most severely affected districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in floods where cloud bursts lashed heavy rains and raised the water level. Neelum, a 260 kilometre long valley besides Neelum River, has historically been a hazard prone area due to natural and man-made disasters”, the WFP spokesman said.
