By Fazal Khaliq
MINGORA: The Malakand people, whose houses were destroyed in the Oct 26 earthquake, have rejected the Rs0.2 million compensation and demanded that the government increase it in proportion to their losses.
“My six-room house was completely pulled down by the earthquake but the government has announced Rs200,000 only for me. This amount is so meagre that only one room can be rebuilt with it,” Zafar Ali, a resident of Bakht Riwan Mohallah in Kabal, said.
He said besides house, he’d also lost all household articles and therefore, the amount of compensation was too little for his life to return to normal.
Azizullah Khan, another earthquake victim from Kabal, too complained the compensation amount was not enough.
He said he had already spent over Rs200,000 to rebuild boundary walls of his house.
“It is strange that the government has announced to give people Rs0.2 million each only to reconstruct houses. Instead, it should give out Rs0.5 million for a destroyed house of two to three rooms and Rs1 million for bigger houses,” he said.
Ibrarul Haq, whose three-room house was destroyed, said he had already spent Rs2 million on his house five years ago.
“Prices of everything have gone up four times since the earthquake hit the area, so managing to rebuild house with the compensation money is next to impossible,” he said.
The people demanded payment of compensation in proportion to damage to their property to help them pick up the threads of life.
“It is not possible to spend nights in the open as weather is getting harsher and therefore, the government should immediately hand out the compensation amount to us to start reconstruction before the heavy rainy season begins,” said Siraj Ahmad, another local resident, said.
He said once the reconstruction began, then the government should release more money.
Kishawar Ali, a civil engineer, said on average, Rs250,000 was needed to rebuild a room, so Rs200,000 was too little to rebuild one house.
