Six years on, around 300,000 students of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are still forced to study under open sky due to slow progress of reconstruction process following the devastating earthquake that had wreaked havoc in northern Pakistan in year 2005.
During 2005 earthquake around three thousands educational institutions were damaged in the state, out of which only 1,000 are reconstructed so far. The delay is badly affecting the youth as they are pursing their studies either in tents or under sky even in harsh winter.
In his briefing to visiting group of journalists, State Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (SERRA) Secretary Dr Asif Hussain on Friday said shortage of funds for reconstruction was badly affecting the education sector.
“Of total 3,000 damaged educational institutions, we have reconstructed only 1000 schools, meaning that only 33 percent work has been completed,” he said.
In the 2005 devastating earthquake that wrecked havoc in Pakistan and AJK, killing more than 50 thousands people in AJK and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and damaging thousands of buildings, the education sector of AJK suffered a lot as almost all of its buildings were damaged.
1,702 primary schools, 174 mosques-cum schools, 570 middle school, 296 high secondary schools, 23 inter and 14 colleges besides six post graduate colleges and two campuses of AJK University were completely destroyed in the natural calamity.
To a query, Dr Asif said donors contributed a lot for the reconstruction work as under the Earthquake Emergency Assistant Project (EEAP), funded by Asian Development Bank, 305 schools were reconstructed to the earthquake resistance standards; however, a lot of work needed to be done.
It is relevant to note that the Asian Development Bank has accomplished various projects worth $I billion in the quake-hit areas.
The ADB reconstructed 309 state of the art schools, 26 basic health units, 1 Rural Health Centre and two tehsil headquarter (THQ) and one district headquarter hospitals.
It also funded the reconstruction of 872 kilometer road and eight RCC bridges, while it also contributed a major share for the construction of 42 steel bridges and damaged buildings of AJK electricity departments. All ADB funded projects have almost completed in AJK.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Deputy Country Director PRM Asian Development Bank Nianshan Zhang said: “It’s very rewarding for me to see the fruit of projects. The ADB funded projects will play a significant role to pull the people out of sufferings of the earthquake.”
