MUZAFFARABAD: Thousands thronged the central graveyard in Muzaffarabad — the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) — on Tuesday to pray for their loved-ones who were killed in a massive earthquake that struck the valley and other parts of Pakistan 14 years ago.
With eyes damp and an air of melancholic remembrance, they honoured over 80,000 victims who had died on October 8, 2005 in the worst ever earthquake that hit the region in recent history.
Rumbling tremors destroyed thousands of homes and government buildings as well as infrastructure, including bridges and roads, apart from injuring thousands.
The day began with a mass prayer in Muzaffarabad attended by hundreds, including government and judicial functionaries.
Congregations were also held in Bagh, Rawlakot, Bhimber, Mirpur, and other parts of AJK.
Mirpur and Bhimber districts were also hit by a strong earthquake last month, killing 40 people, and injuring over 800 people – a grim reminder of October 2005 tremor.
In a message on the 14th anniversary of disastrous quake, Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed that his government would work until the rehabilitation of the last victim.
AJK President Sardar Masood Khan said in a statement that the catastrophe that hit the valley and parts of the country — claiming the lives of thousands of children, young people, women and elderly as well as destroying public and private property — was still fresh in memory.
Unforgettable
Many still clearly remember the grim memories of the catastrophe.
“It is an unforgettable memory. I am afraid I won’t be able to scratch that from my mind until death,” said Zahid Abbas, a survivor of the earthquake.
He lost 10 members of his family including his father and brother who could not escape their home on time.
“It’s been 14 years but I still remember how the earth jolted, buildings and houses shaken, and roads torn apart” said Abbas, wearing a wispy gray beard and matching hair, adding, “This all has permanently settled in my mind.”
Zia-ur-Rehman, a resident of Balakot town in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) — another badly hit area by the earthquake — said: “I don’t want to remember that day when our city was completely destroyed, hundreds of houses and schools collapsed and we lost thousands of people.”
He had lost 60 members of his extended family including his grandfather, grandmother and many close relatives. “Many of our relatives suffered mental diseases as they lost their houses and businesses.”
“We still feel the pain and fear aggravated by the last month’s earthquake in Mirpur,” Rehman said, adding that many residents of Balakot, including himself, spent nights sleeping on roads after Mirpur earthquake due to fear that another convulsion would hit further north.
Pakistan is located in the seismically active Indus — Tsangpo Suture Zone, which is roughly 200 kilometres north of the Himalaya Front and has the highest rates of seismicity and largest earthquakes in the Himalaya region, according to the US Geological Survey.
Rehabilitation
Backed by international donors and governments, authorities launched a massive campaign to rehabilitate survivors and the reconstruction of infrastructure. However, locals appeared to be unsatisfied with the developments.
“It’s been 14 years but not even the first stone of hundreds of reconstruction projects has been placed,” Abbas Gardezi, a local journalist, said.
A government official in Muzaffarabad, wishing not to be named, seconded Gardezi’s view.
He said some 900 projects aiming to rebuild hundreds of schools and hospital buildings, had yet to be completed.
Tahir Abbasi, a resident of Bagh district, also voiced a similar view. “The government has fulfilled 60 per cent of it’s promises in 14 years. Scores of schools and hospital buildings have yet to be repaired in Bagh.”
