Relief activities resume as lashing rain stops

ISLAMABAD—Relief and rescue operations, briefly hampered due to bad weather on Sunday, resumed fully on Monday, providing life-saving assistance and medical treatment to the quake-affected people at several places of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and NWFP.
Helicopters have evacuated a total of 6802 patients to hospital during the last nine days, of whom 4348 have been discharged after necessary treatment while 2430 patients are still under going treatment in these hospitals.
Director General Inter Services Public Relations Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told APP that in the last nine days, 2868 injured have been operated upon for major surgeries while 2628 patients have undergone minor surgeries in the Military Hospitals of Rawalpindi, Murree, Abbottabad, Peshawar, Mangla, Kharian, Gujranwala, Lahore, POF Wah , HIT, PAF and Naval Hospitals Islamabad.
Over 2220 tonnes of relief goods have been transported to Muzaffarbad, Bagh, Rawlakot, Balakot and surrounding areas which are being distributed among the victims by helicopter and by road. If relief goods cannot be sent to a certain area by air or by road, small groups of Army personnel themselves carry the relief goods on their backs and also transport them on mules.
Relief activities are being accelerated and efforts made to provide tents, blankets and food items to people in remote areas. About 562 civil vehicles have been requisitioned for transportation of relief goods to forward areas.
Gen. Shaukat said 50,000 soldiers of Pakistan Army are engaged in the relief activities in the earthquake-stricken areas and all tents available in army stores have been provided to the affectees.
Main nodes for relief and rescue operations have been made at Muzaffarabad, Mansehra and Bagh while forward bases and outlets of these bases are made in far-flung areas to effectively carry out the relief and rescue operations.
Six mobile surgical teams of the Pakistan Army have been deployed in the quake-hit areas. “Of these, two are working in Muzaffarabad, one in Bagh and another two in Rawlakot. Relief operations also include field hospitals set up in these areas to treat the injured immediately”.
Two battalions of Pakistan Army had been stationed at PAF Base Chaklala, main logistic base camp. These men were working round-the-clock to unload the cargo coming by air from abroad and then reload in helicopters and trucks for transportation to forward areas. Resources of the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force have also been integrated in relief activities.
According to the DG ISPR, reserved rations of the Army for the next couple of months at the forward bases had been diverted for distribution to earthquake affectees in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy before resources at the national level could be mobilized.
A total of 15 countries have sent rescue teams, whereas 25 countries have sent medical teams which are working to save lives and shift the injured to hospitals. These teams have also set up field hospitals in some areas.
Thirty five countries have sent assistance in one form or the other. America, Afghanistan, Germany and Japan have provided helicopters for this huge relief operation. A Japanese medical team has set up a field hospital in Batgram and Agha Khan Foundation had set up hospitals in Balakot and Mansehra. The injured are being provided prompt medical help in these hospitals.
Teams from Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Belgium, Greece, Russia, Afghanistan and Singapore have set up field hospitals in Muzaffarabad. A team from Malaysia had set up a hospital in Bagh to save as many human lives as possible. Medical teams from Jordan and China were engaged in Rawlakot. A medical team from Italy has set up a field hospital in Mansehra. Ukraine medical team had set up a field hospital at Batgram. Canadian team is setting up hospital at Muzaffarbad. South Korean has set up their hospital at Balakot while Cuba has set up their hospital at Rawalpindi.
Army Aviation has undertaken one of the most arduous tasks of carrying out relief and rescue operations. During last nine days 45 helicopters have flown over 1000 sorties. These flights have transported rescue teams to the earthquake affected areas, shifted the critically injured to hospitals and provided relief goods to the affectees. Pakistan Army’s Engineering Corps and the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) are busy in opening up the roads and removing obstacles in the way of relief activities. They have opened road Garhi Habibullah-Muzaffarabad, road Murree-Muzaffaraad, and the road Rawalpindi- Bagh- Rawlakot for the relief convoys. Around 1,000 tonnes of relief goods have reached Pakistan which include medicines, food items, drinking water, 80000 blankets, 3000 tents and other necessary items. During last twenty four hours 132 tonnes of relief goods which include ration, tents, blankets have been received by five countries, USA, Spain, Libya, UAE and Kyrgyzstan.—APP