Debris Dumping From Quake-Shattered City Fouls River Jhelum

By Itrat Bashir

LAHORE, Pakistan, January 26, 2006 (ENS) - So many structures in the earthquake damaged city of Muzaffarabad are uninhabitable that either the entire population has to be relocated or all the houses must be rebuilt, touring journalists of Lahore learned during their trip to the Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) capital last week.

More than 100,000 homes were destroyed in the severe earthquake that rattled the region on October 8, 2005. More than 100 buildings housing medical facilities were destroyed.

"Going by the figures of 2002, the population of Muzaffarabad was 833,000, and moving a population of this is a daunting task, since there is no space around the valley where the entire population could be rehabilitated. A possibility could be to move them to the bordering areas of Punjab in Pakistan," said AJK officials who were reluctant to be named.

Enormous quantities of debris are left in Muzaffarabad from the October 2005 earthquake. (Photo courtesy AJK Government)

They pointed out that demolishing the entire ruined city would generate huge amounts of debris, and said disposal of this much material would be huge test for any government.

This is the dilemma government faces, the officials told the visiting journalists, whose trip was organized by Forum of Environment Journalists Pakistan, Punjab Chapter.

Official concerns are not out of place. The journalists witnessed truckloads of solid waste being dumped in the River Jhelum on daily basis with impunity.

Since solid waste contains many chemicals, the dumping is polluting the water, disturbing the local river ecosystem and threatening aquatic life. The river is also a vital source for agriculture and livestock, so the polluted water is entering the food chain, and will ultimately expose people to the toxic chemicals.

The dumping of debris from the earthquake would also increase sedimentation of waters behind Mangla Dam. Its holding capacity is already in the decline due to sedimentation caused by the unchecked dumping of solid waste, even by the government agencies, in the River Jhelum upstream.

The Mangla Dam is the 12th largest dam in the world. It was built in 1967 across the River Jhelum, about 60 miles southeast of Pakistan's capital city, Islamabad.

Experts say that in 2000 the Mangla reservoir had already lost some 20 percent of its storage capacity due to sediment deposits. To counter the problem, the government of Pakistan has decided to raise the height of the dam 40 feet.

But if dumping of solid waste in the River Jhelum is not controlled, the purpose of the Mangla dam raising project would fail.

Environmentalists in Pakistan have shown grave concern over the problem. They said that dumping of solid waste and sewage would contaminate the river water, which would have a serious impact on plants and animals as well as humans.

In other earthquake-related news, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said in Islamabad today that it will construct over 60 schools and 20 health units in the quake-affected areas of the North-West Frontier Province and AJK.

Building methods will be used that leave people less vulnerable to quakes and aftershocks, and USAID will train Pakistani workers in these methods. Construction of the first school, in Balakot, is expected to begin in February.

Mountains of debris remain after the earthquake, posing an enormous disposal problem across the striken area. (Photo courtesy UN)

Moosa, who served as South African environment minister from 1999 to 2004, says there is now a greater recognition of the fundamental link between environmental health on the one hand and prospects for long-term recovery, sustainable socio-economic development, human security and wellbeing, and disaster preparedness on the other.

He discussed this link with high-level government officials and met with representatives of nongovernmental organizations, especially IUCN member organizations. Moosa offered IUCN's expertise to address environmental damage and needs in the wake of the earthquake. Based on field assessments of environmental risks and needs, the IUCN has formulated a medium and long term strategy for recovery.

Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who is also Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy for the South Asian Earthquake Disaster, arrived in Pakistan on January 16 to spotlight the plight of victims.

Although harsh winter weather kept him from visiting areas devastated by October's earthquake, a UN spokesman said former President Bush met with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and made plans to visit affected areas as soon as possible.