Poor groan under winter hardships in N.Areas

Poor groan under winter hardships in N.Areas
SKARDU, Jan 23: Heavy snowfall described as highest in the last 15 years has multiplied the problems people of Northern Areas have to live with each year.Reports gathered from Astore say that the recent snowfall in the area has broken the previous 15 years’ record with 5 to 6 feet snow received in Chillim, Minimarg, Rattoo, Deosai and Gultary in the foothills of the Himalayas.Hilly areas in Ghizer district, Hunza, Gojal, Nagar and Baltistan have also received record snow in the period with temperatures falling below minus 17 degree Celsius at different places in the region. As a result water supply system has been destroyed due to frozen pipes and even freezing of diesel been reported in Skardu and Astore. Running vehicles have stopped due to freezing of water bodies and bursting of hose pipe and radiators.According to hospital sources, complaints of diseases like pneumonia, cough, flue and asthma are also on the rise at different places and hospitals and dispensaries are stated to be running short of essential medicines. Deaths have been reported in government hospitals where there are no heating arrangements. Regions hit hard by the cold season are Gultary, Shila, Duroo, Askoli, Braldo in Skardu district; Hushey, Khorkondo and Thaley in Ghanche district; some villages of Minimarg, Chilim, and Rattoo in Astore district where roads remain blocked for three to four months. The sick in need of medical help face severe hardships as they must be carried on people’s back to places where jeeps are available to rush them to hospitals but most often deaths occur on the way due to severe cold in the open.While this is the lot of people living away from the towns, city dwellers of Skardu, Gilgit, Astore, Diamer and Ghanche are facing the worst inflation in items of daily use, food, fire wood and other fuels.The prices of fire wood, gas cylinders and kerosene oil have soared beyond common man’s reach. One kg of liquefied petroleum gas was being sold at the rate of Rs100, 40kg of fire wood at Rs350. The district administration is being blamed for failing to keep the price of fuel items under control which has made life very hard for the poor when electricity supply is faced with long outages.Meanwhile government employees were nor being paid the ‘hardship allowance’ which is paid to all employees posted at places above 2,600 to 3,600 meters like Murree, Quetta, Abbottabad, Parachinar, Razmat and Badin. Surprisingly government is yet to recognise these highest towns of the country as hard places.People want this discriminatory policy to end. During his tenure as prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had given a Rs20 per month winter allowance to public servants in Northern Areas which has not been enhanced since despite a ten times rise in cost of living over the years. The 40 per cent of basic pay allowance known as Gilgit Allowance was withdrawn in 2005. Government servants are agitating for recognition of Northern Areas as a hardship area and payment of a suitable compensatory allowance to them to meet the additional cost of living incurred during winter months.
(Courtesy Daily Dawn)