MIRPUR - Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Lt-Gen Muhammad Afzal on Tuesday said the process of provision of aid to the quake-victims to start from next week. Talking to media in Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) here, Lt-Gen Afzal said that the government has gathered data of ninety-five percent of the earthquake-affected areas.
Assuring his full support to the administration of Azad Kashmir for the rehabilitation of the earthquake affectees, the NDMA chairman said they are devising a plan about non-dependence on the government. He said the Search and Rescue Unit will be established at NDMA and NDMA Risk Management Fund is also being set up to lessen the effects of natural calamities. Lt-Gen Muhammad Afzal said due to efforts of the NDMA, the human loss was controlled in the recent 5.8 earthquake that jolted parts of AJK. On September 24, the strong earthquake of 5.8-magnitude brought disasters to different parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). The quake hit some urban and rural parts of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) including Muzaffarabad, Kotli and many other scattered places. The death toll of the earthquake that hit aforesaid areas has soared to 40, while at-least 6,000 houses were destroyed completely, while 7100 cattle farms were also damaged in the quake.