In pictures: Earthquake Hits Pakistan-India Border

last SG · 2005-10-09T00:54:56+00:00

Reuters - Sun Dec 4, 9:47 AM ET England's Ian Bell plays an extra shot for the photographers out of a bunker in a charity golf tournament in aid of the ear...

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AFP/File - Mon Oct 31,12:15 PM ET
Survivors of the powerful 08 October earth-quake, collect relief aid during a distribution drive by the World Food Programme (WFP) in the Komikot Jund Gran area, 18 October. Earthquake survivors in Pakistan will start dying from lack of food within a month if the world fails to help, the World Food Programme (WFP) said(AFP/File/Rein Skullerand)

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AP - Mon Oct 31, 3:44 PM ET
Sarmad Tariq of Islamabad, 29, poses for a photograph in New York Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005. Tariq, a quadriplegic who became disabled before the recent earthquake in Pakistan, will be participating in the New York City Marathon Sunday, Nov. 6 to bring attention to the plight of disabled people in Pakistan. Immediately after the quake, Tariq thought about skipping his trip to New York and donating his sponsors' money to earthquake relief. But others convinced him that participating in the marathon would be inspirational and publicize the problems of the newly disabled. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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AP - Mon Oct 31, 3:45 PM ET
Sarmad Tariq of Islamabad, 29, poses for a photograph in New York Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005. Tariq, a quadriplegic who was disabled before the recent earthquake in Pakistan, will be participating in the New York City Marathon Sunday, Nov. 6 to bring attention to the plight of disabled people in Pakistan. Immediately after the quake, Tariq thought about skipping his trip to New York and donating his sponsors' money to earthquake relief. But others convinced him that participating in the marathon would be inspirational and publicize the problems of the newly disabled. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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AP - Mon Oct 31, 3:46 PM ET
Sarmad Tariq of Islamabad, 29, is interviewed in his hotel room in New York Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005. Tariq, a quadriplegic who was disabled before the recent earthquake in Pakistan, will be participating in the New York City Marathon Sunday, Nov. 6 to bring attention to the plight of disabled people in Pakistan. Immediately after the quake, Tariq thought about skipping his trip to New York and donating his sponsors' money to earthquake relief. But others convinced him that participating in the marathon would be inspirational and publicize the problems of the newly disabled. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Return to Uri village

Introduction

Shortly after the powerful South Asian earthquake, David Escott, a software developer in Indian-administered Kashmir, sent the BBC News website pictures of the damage done to the village of Uri. Three weeks on, he returned to Uri to see how villagers were rebuilding their lives.

I found that life was back to normal in the villages along the way to Uri.

At the army checkpoint one officer told us he couldn't help but wonder if God had sent the earthquake because of our sins.

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The Qadir family

Abdul Qadir was delighted to see that his experiences of the earthquake had been shared with the rest of the world through the online photo journal.

But he complained about the promised government relief subsidy not being enough to rebuild his house. He said that some of the NGOs had helped with food and cash, but that he was yet to see the relief so plentiful in other parts of the valley.

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Winter shelter

The Qadirs are a respected family in Uri having lived here for as long as anyone can remember. They owned a number of houses, but now they share tents.

Here, Abdul Qadir's father, Haji Ali Mohammed, is overseeing work to build a temporary shelter.

In this area, it is not uncommon to see 10 feet of snow in the harsh winter months. They need to build a shed to protect the family in ths period.

When summer arrives in the valley, they will rebuild their homes.

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Gujjar labour

The labourers who are helping the Qadir family build their shelter are from the Gujjar nomadic community.

This is the month of Ramadan so the days are very short - there are only six working hours.

The Gujjars were also affected by the earthquake. They live in incredibly remote areas in huts made of wood. They have rebuilt their own homes and now they work for money to aid their own reconstruction efforts.

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Breaking fast

People are glad to have survived terrorism and now the earthquake. There is a positive spirit, a sense that as long as they are alive, then anything can be rebuilt.

We arrived just as the Ramadan fast was broken.

Here, an elderly neighbour of the Qadir family cooks rice open to the elements. The women of the village were out in full force looking after children and cooking.

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Haak

This lady is cooking Haak, a special Kashmiri dish, which is basically a spinach-like leaf boiled and mixed with masala.

She is cooking inside a tent. People have put up wooden boards to stop the wind coming through in the night when the temperature drops to below freezing.

Many people choose to live in tents even though their houses are intact because there are so many aftershocks.

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Back to school

We found people hard at work digging foundations for a new girls' high school, because the previous one had been demolished by the quake.

The librarian had managed to retrieve books and makeshift classrooms have been set up in tents and sheds.

However only about 30 girls are regularly attending classes. It's exam time in Kashmir but people are not ready to send their children to school because aftershocks continue. They don't know what could happen next. They are afraid.

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Tent luxuries

The physical education teacher is hoping that more girls can be persuaded to come to their shed schools. She says they need quality education now.

Meanwhile, she too lives in a tent. But like many others she has managed to salvage goods from her home and her tent is fully-furnished with a television as well.

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Eid in Uri

The mosque, which collapsed from the force of the earthquake, has also been rebuilt as a shed. This was particularly important as men needed to pray during Ramadan.

This is the makeshift hut to house the imam and his wife through the long winter.

Local religious leaders have said that people should collect money and go to Uri and celebrate Eid there.

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:43 AM ET
A woman injured during the October 8 earthquake, recuperates at a makeshift hospital in Balakot, Pakistan, November 1, 2005. Pakistan appealed for antibiotics and painkillers on Tuesday as it raised the toll from last month's devasting earthquake to 57,597 killed and nearly 79,000 injured. REUTERS/Mian Khursheed

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:49 AM ET
A Kashmiri girl sits with her sister on a bed placed outside a makeshift shelter in a small mountain village of Lamnian, about 45km (28 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir November 1, 2005. Pakistan said on Monday it would make special arrangements to give earthquake survivors easy access to Indian Kashmir over concerns bureaucracy would hamper the efforts of thousands to cross the border. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:52 AM ET
A Kashmiri man walks in the small mountain village of Lamnian, about 45km (28 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir November 1, 2005. Pakistan said on Monday it would make special arrangements to give earthquake survivors easy access to Indian Kashmir over concerns bureaucracy would hamper the efforts of thousands to cross the border. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:53 AM ET
A Kashmiri girl is seen through her destroyed house in the small mountain village of Lamnian, about 45km (28 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir November 1, 2005. Pakistan said on Monday it would make special arrangements to give earthquake survivors easy access to Indian Kashmir over concerns bureaucracy would hamper the efforts of thousands to cross the border. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:56 AM ET
A signboard warns foreign travellers at the entrance of Chinari, about 50km (31 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir November 1, 2005. Pakistan said on Monday it would make special arrangements to give earthquake survivors easy access to Indian Kashmir over concerns bureaucracy would hamper the efforts of thousands to cross the border. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:57 AM ET
Kashmiri earthquake survivors walk past a signboard warning foreign travellers at the entrance of Chinari, about 50km (31 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir November 1, 2005. Pakistan said on Monday it would make special arrangements to give earthquake survivors easy access to Indian Kashmir over concerns bureaucracy would hamper the efforts of thousands to cross the border. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama

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Reuters - Tue Nov 1, 9:59 AM ET
A blind elderly Kashmiri man prepares corn for his family in the small mountain village of Lamnian, about 45km (28 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir November 1, 2005. Pakistan said on Monday it would make special arrangements to give earthquake survivors easy access to Indian Kashmir over concerns bureaucracy would hamper the efforts of thousands to cross the border. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama

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