ISLAMABAD - More than 400,000 houses need to be built in northern Pakistan for those left homeless by Octoberâs catastrophic earthquake, the official responsible for quake reconstruction said on Wednesday. Lieutenant-General Muhammad Zubair, head of the governmentâs Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority, said the government plans to provide 175,000 rupees ($2,930) to help replace each house destroyed or damaged. âWe are supposed to construct 400,153 houses,â he told Reuters in an interview.| Just click your heels three times, general ... |
He said reconstruction work was expected to begin in April, once the government had analysed seismic reports from China and Turkey to determine which areas were safest to build in.
| How about where there's no rubble? |
Zubair said the government would encourage people to use wood, mild steel and corrugated iron sheets that could resist earthquakes. He said it would discourage them from using concrete for roofs, to avoid casualties in future quakes. Many concrete-roofed buildings, including most government offices and schools, collapsed in the 7.8 magnitude quake, burying thousands of people under rubble.
To assist reconstruction, Zubair said the government had allowed the import of corrugated iron sheets and mild steel from neighbour and rival India, where around 1,300 people were killed in the quake. âWe should not make it an ego point because we have to facilitate our poor people. If we start looking at our ego, then we are damaging our own people,â he said.