Construction of houses and roads in the quake-ravaged area should be assigned to the locals, as they are laborious people. This was observed by Edhi Foundation's patron-in-chief Bilquis Edhi at a meeting of Shura Hamdard, Karachi Chapter, here on Thursday.
She said that the locals should be given the money to construct their houses by themselves, as these people did not want to leave their places despite of the jolts still being felt there.
The meeting, on "The incidence of October 8 and national unity" held was presided over by Justice Haziqul Khairi (Retd).
She also urged the government to preserve and promote national unity, solidarity and consensus, created in the wake of October 8 earthquake, which was vital for progress and development of the nation. Bilquis Edhi said: "It was a great natural calamity and we should give courage and fortitude to the survivors."
Edhi Foundation was distributing relief goods through 1,400 trucks and was shifting between 12,000 and 14,000 wounded people daily to different hospital through its 150 ambulances, she added.
She said Pakistan Army did a lot of work in the earthquake areas with exemplary zeal and enthusiasm. Similarly, the role played by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the earthquake areas was also commendable, she said.
To a question, she said that in the beginning, there were some cases of snatching of relief goods, but now the army had taken control of it, and added that the army was working with them in transportation of the relief goods to the inaccessible places. Although there was no dearth of pharmacopoeia, medicines for epidemic diseases such as diarrhoea were badly needed, she said, and stressed the need for separate shelter homes for the disabled persons.
Speaking on the occasion, Hamdard Foundation, Pakistan, President Sadia Rashid said that Hamdard had set up medical camps in the affected areas.
She said Hamdard medical teams, comprising doctors and surgeons, had taken with them a large quantity of pharma products, including medicines of epidemic diseases, and added that if such medicines were needed, they might be contacted.
Solar energy scientist and Secretary General of National Industrial, Commercial and Educational Link S.S Haider said that alpine tents should be provided to the survivors because these tents could bear the pressure of snowfall.
Engineer Anwarul Haq Siddiqui suggested that a conference of engineers and architects should be organised on national level to indicate and interpret earthquake zoning. He suggested restarting civil defence training and movements of Girls' Guide and Scouts, disaster management service be established on Federal and provincial levels.-PR