Earthquake relief operations
Helicopters finally reach out to inaccessible areas
Bureau Report

PESHAWAR—Army Aviation helicopters have extended their flights to remotest and inaccessible valleys of NWFP hit by the earthquake for dropping food supplies, tents medicines, clothes and also evacuating casualties.
According to this scribe, as many as 54 sorties were flown from Chaklala Air Base and Mansehra to the affected areas. Helicopters of foreign countries participating in the rescue and relief operations flew 12 sorties to Balakot, Besham, Batgram, Dirkot, Garhi Habibullah and Oghi and dropped 844 tents, 9.59 tons of ration, 3484 blankets, 0.46 tons of medicines, 0.61 tons of clothes and other items.
Helicopters of Pakistan Army Aviation flew 45 sorties for Main Operational Base at Mansehra to the worst hit areas of Allai, Hungari, Paras, Garhi Habibullah, Jarid, Bunga, Jabori, Bighai, Janol, Manda Gucha, Serri, Kawai, Kaghan, Naran, Pattan, Balakot, Jabbar, Shinkiari and transported 49000 kilogrammes of relief goods. The helicopters also evacuated 147 casualties during its missions from the affected areas.
Pakistan Army dispatched 61 trucks more loaded with relief goods to various areas of Garhi Habibullah, Balakot, Jabori and Battal sectors. The relief goods were distributed among the victims by teams of Army troops in the remote areas. A train with relief goods that arrived from Karachi to Havelian is being unloaded. The relief good would soon be dispatched for onward distribution among the victims.
A total of 1548 injured were attended at Combined Military Hospital Abbottabad. 629 were discharged after providing necessary treatment whereas 919 were admitted. Army Medical Corps have also constituted ten medical teams and are operating at Balakot, Batgram, Garhi Habibullah, Naran, Jarid, Kawai and Mansehra. AMC and foreign medical teams have so far provided treatment to 20607 casualties in these areas.
PTCL telephone exchange at Balakot was made operational that had been badly damaged by the earthquake whereas electricity has also been restored in the area.
Engineers of Pakistan Army have cleared slides from Garhi Habibullah- Balakot road and a track leading from Chopra to Dinga.
APP adds: Ministry of Women Development has set up a crisis centre here for the women affected by the earthquake.
Narjis Zaidi, in charge of the centre told Voice of America that about 200 quake-affected women and children have so far brought in the centre, mostly belonging to Muzaffarabad and other villages.
She said these women and children are in a state of severe shock, but are gradually improving.
She said the centre’s major task is relief and rehabilitation. A large number of people are cooperating, while volunteers come here and bring relief goods for the affectees throughout the day.
She said, rescue work was continously being carried out in the affected areas and the ministry was about to set up three camps in the area soon.
She said, “We think that there will be a larger number of orphans, but the data collected from different hospitals so far showed that orphans are very less in number”.
Two Japanese helicopters on Tuesday joined Pakistan Army’s relief and rescue operations, carried out in affected areas of Azad Kashmir and NWFP. The third Japanese helicopter will join operations on Wednesday. Japan had sent a total of three helicopters to Pakistan for joining relief operations in the affected areas.
These helicopters reached Chaklala Airbase through a Japanese C-130.
USA has also promised to provide 24 more helicopters to Pakistan while UN too will send helicopters to expedite relief and rescue operations in the affected areas.
USA’s aircraft also brought earth-removing machinery which will speed up the rescue process.