Deputy Chairman Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra), Major General Nadeem has said that earthquake survivors are better poised to go through the coming winter conditions and they need not fear any more.
In an interview to Voice of America (VOA), the Erra Deputy Chief said that 90 percent of the affectees from Rawalakot to Allai were living in some sort of winter protected houses.
He said there were still around 35,000 people living in the tentage villages but these villages were situated in the areas, which were not hit by severe cold during the winter.
"Most of the tent villages are around Muzaffarabad and winter is not so fierce there", he added. He said that some people were exaggerating the issue, which was a regrettable practice. According to latest figures almost 42 percent of the affectees had started reconstructing their houses and Erra was trying to provide CGI sheets to the remaining people living at the heights, he said.
He said that rehabilitation task include construction of 6,00,000 houses, 6,600 kilometres roads, 6,300 schools, 350 hospitals, 4,000 water supply schemes and 1000 official buildings in the area spreading to 30,000 square kilometres. No world power can complete the reconstruction work of such a size in a period of one year in such a remote and difficult area, he added.
So far as the health sector was concerned there was not a single facility, which was not functional, he said adding full fledged hospitals were functional in Bagh, Hatian Bala, Garhi Habibullah, Balakot, Battagram and Muzaffarabad and all the roads were functional in the affected areas.