The thriving town of Balakot was almost completely destroyed in the earthquake of 2005. Much of it still is, and the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction has become mired in bureaucratic wrangling and interagency disputes and vacillation. Most of the population are still in temporary shelters. The entire town was designated as in the ‘Red Zone’ – the area where the possibility of a future ‘quake was rated as extremely high and where it would be unwise – indeed irresponsible – to rebuild. This is the harsh reality, and the people of the region have to make the best of the misfortune of living on an active tectonic fault line. Given that entire populations was going to have to relocate it is hardly surprising that things have not gone smoothly, but the pace of redevelopment and rebuilding does appear to be slower than anticipated, and there are significant cost overruns as a result. The New Balakot City to which most will relocate has proceeded at a snail’s pace and it was recently announced it would now cost Rs14.2 billion as against Rs12 billion; with the increases in cost mostly down to delays in implementation.
There is also a degree of irritation among Balakot residents who have seen Muzzaffarabad, which was similarly devastated, get what they see as a larger slice of the reconstruction cake than they have, with universities and colleges rebuilt whilst Balakot still lacks basic health services delivered from a permanent structure. New Balakot City could take another ten years, according to some estimates. Much of the blame for the delays in Balakot has been laid at the door of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority. But the provincial government too has thrown more than one spanner in the works as well in the last seven years and things boiled over in 2009 with scores losing their lives in disputes over plot allocation. The people of Balakot deserve better and the agencies who are supposed to be aiding and supporting them need to be held accountable. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-8-102602-The-Balakot-blues
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