The following was a report I submitted to Sungi’s office in Muzaffarabad, shortly after an eye-opening field visit to the village of Batlian, 25kms away.

Location : Batlian Village , Union Council Gardi Dupata
Organization : Sungi Development Foundation
Contact Person : Malick Abdul Rasheed Awan
Contact No : 052250 424527

Summary: Assessment of Relief in villages surrounding Batlian, Gardi Dupatta Union Council. Five villages personally visited include Batlian, Muree Batlian, Babala Batlian, Khata Batlian, Dunna Batlian. Villages currently being surveyed as a result of todays visit include: Bakrimar Batlian, Ghazi Batlian, Butcha Batlian, Rari Batlian, Chorguli Batlian, Pagwan village. Decision on medical Camp at Batlian has been postponed subject till information being co-ordinated between Sungi and Red Crescent on the subject.

General status Report:

After collecting the Red Crescent team, we departed Muzaffarabad towards Gardi Duppatta at around 11pm . It was already late but it had taken a while to secure a doctor and vehicle from Red Crescent. As usual clothing just lined the road haphazardly dumped like a jumble sale as people dug through it all. Just before our destination I changed vehicles and guided the Red Crescent team up to Batlian. The man who greeted us at the village was Malick Abdul Rasheed Awan, chairman of the Batlian area and established activist contact with Sungi in Batlian. Malick Rasheed had already mobilized 100 persons to clear the road for our safe passage earlier this morning. They had cleared three massive landslides in less than four hours using several spades and their bare hands!

Red Crescent team set up their field camp on a local charpoay. No patients were assembled. Initially Malick Rasheed confirmed people were waiting. Only seven were treated. Red Crescent team left at 12.30pm citing lack of awareness of field camp in the community. They have proposed a second camp on Thursday morning catering to the whole area. Problem of communication with local people and lack of time to organize effective field operation were key issues.

Rest of afternoon spent surveying 1) severity of medical disorders in Batlian area, 2) Batlian households for relief work facilitation. I quickly established set of criteria and sent five persons to immediate villages to find: a) No. of injured persons who can walk and who need immediate removal, b) No. of fatalities, c) Population of villages, d) No. of Households, e) Damaged houses and f) no. of unlivable houses. They will stay in far flung areas and provide information to Sungi tomorrow afternoon through Malick Rasheed. Please note that Mr. Rasheed seems to be trusted to at least ensure items are distributed on a priority basis.

Malick Rasheed accompanied me and we personally surveyed five villages this afternoon. Please see observations below for more details. We climbed first to the house of two sisters who were badly injured from the quake. There had been an airlift two to three days back for severely injured persons. Their Brother couldn’t tell why these two hadn’t left then. One sister is able to walk with only a slight injury. The other is bed ridden with bone injuries to either her hip, back or upper leg. She is unable to put any weight on that side and thus move. I made a recommendation for her to be taken by charpoay down to the Belgium field hospital at Thandali not far away. Locals have stated that helicopters are not landing at the low elevation of this village. People seem to place too much faith in help coming to them, rather than taking matters into their own hands. This is an observation that applies to everyone I met today.

Our first village was Babela Batlian. A village of 80 households within whom 25% are unlivable. Four orphans of one family have been identified and recorded in this village. 14 persons have been affected by a water bourne disease that has caused a hardened body wide rash to develop on infected persons. We met one who stated that the rash had begun when they began drinking local water from a polluted source immediately after the Earthquake happened. They were still drinking from it.

From Babela we continued through several smaller villages towards Dunna Batlian high up the mountainside. We stopped and spoke to many individuals who were carrying clothes that had been dumped on the main road, several hours below.

One woman called Khatul Ayub lived in Khata Batlian (six household village, six houses completely destroyed). She required warm clothing, food, tents/tarpals (basic shelter) and blankets. All things. The people of these villages were poor. There priorities have not always been for tents. I spoke to many who survived on daily food rations only. That was their priority. All villages above Batlian main village only accessible by walking. The people who were no vocally crying out for tents are often the ones who really need them.

People are poorer the higher up the hillside you travel. This is an important fact as their needs change. Those lower down have larger houses, greater food supplies and often just require shelter. Those persons living higher up are often much poorer. Upper dwellings are almost 100% mud and wood constructions (e.g. Khata Barlian, Dunna Batlian). Every one of these has been completely collapsed and is classified as unlivable. In every house I heard that at least one person had died. Yet the people have no food to eat. Therefore their immediate need is to fill their bellies. I fear that they are leaving their fate to Allah and Winter will hit them before they know it. People are going to die high up. People higher up need: – Money, food, blankets and warm clothing, shelter now. In Batlian, Malick Rasheed is the man to co-ordinate with.

Each village encountered throughout the afternoon was one tragedy after another. Not one house standing. People were in shock, telling us that they had lost three children and then offering us tea. It didn’t add-up. In those higher villages (1 hour plus walk from main road) approximately eighty percent of wood/stone dwellings are destroyed. Trauma counseling may be required in some medical emergencies but people’s primary concern is saving themselves not grieving. If they are given that knowledge people can get busy. People will know what to do. That is the priority now. What do people do?

Medical Survey

Babela Batlian may be taken as an example of a rich village where three persons are in critical state unable to walk due to hip, back or leg bone related injuries. Chorguli Batlian is a much poorer village high up the mountain side there are another 5 persons unable to walk. The people in the latter village are the most at risk. All the Injured I have encountered have been women and children. I met a further three serious cases. Perhaps a further twenty persons need first aid treatment from the five villages I visited. Possibly 30-40 people in that immediate area need severe treatment given the samples visited today. Many more will need First Aid. No village has a First Aid kit.

Orphan survey

In Babela Batlian, Dunna Batlian and Batlian main village orphans have been identified. The most sad case was in Babela Batlian where two boys and girls had lost both parents when their house collapsed. Youngest is 4, eldest is 12. Guardian is Turmeen Mahsoon who lives in village. He will not gurantee more than two + years responsibility. Action should be immediately taken. Orphans surveyed through local activists like Malick Rasheed.

Summary of Observations:

• People are waiting for help rather than doing something about it.
• Many people are classifying their homes as unlivable when they are not. They are living outside out of fear mainly. I would recommend an educational campaign because supplying tents to such people is neglecting more needy people further up the hillside who don’t have such luxuries.
• Poorer people live further up the hillsides and priorities should be based on this.
• Many poorer people, especially higher up the hillside, require daily food rations over shelter as a number one priority.
• In each village visited, between 10-20% of the population has been wiped out by this earthquake.

People don’t know what to do and are waiting to be told. Knowledge has to be given. That has to be mobilized.

Action URGENTLY Required

1. Establish a date for a medical camp catering to Batlian and the surrounding areas. There is a need in Batlian but a medical camp should cater to a large audience.
2. Spread information about that date through Malick Rasheed two days before the event.
3. A field camp with vehicles standing by to take away the wounded on stretchers. Duration of medical camp to last one morning. Distribution of a basic medical kit. A training session to show poorer locals how to use a basic First Aid kit that they can take away with them.
4. Field doctors who can visit those permanently unable to move. Distribution of food, blankets and shelter. At this stage most people encountered didn’t even have a tarpal.
5. To launch a quake wide media campaign on what people can do now. Nobody is doing anything. We can do something.

Stephen McCutcheon
Sungi Volunteer
0300 8847075
www.r4e.org

Other Contacts in Batlian:
Mr. Tosheef Ahmad – 052250 42528
Mr. Wakas Ahmad – 052250 42527
Mr. Nisar Sheik – 052250 42277

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2005 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Earthquake, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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