Risk Wise

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ical and clan lines, with decision-making firmly in the hands of clan

leaders.

Overall earthquake-related damage in both the programme areas

included:

• Over 2,700 deaths; 2,000 injured and around 200 disabled

• More than 90 per cent of homes destroyed, the rest damaged

• All 102 schools and nine health facilities destroyed or rendered

unusable

• All shops and businesses destroyed

• Extensive damage to water systems, irrigation canals, link roads

and to the main road connecting the Chakama Valley to the

Muzzafarabad/Srinagar road and urban areas

• Increased vulnerability to landslides and flooding

• Generalized psychosocial trauma.

Understanding and defining priorities

In the early spring of 2006, we thought that community priorities

would focus on rebuilding homes to ensure shelter for the next

winter, and planting crops for the autumn harvest. As social mobi-

lizers commenced dialogues with the communities, it became clear

that whereas people wanted support to plant spring maize, the imme-

diate priorities for the people of Chakama related to ensuring

drinking water and to opening up the main valley and other link

roads to facilitate vehicular transport of people and goods. Rebuilding

homes was not seen as urgent, partly because the process of finan-

cial compensation from the Government had not been completed,

partly because building designs initially proposed by the government

were not suited to the lifestyles and traditions of remote rural areas,

and partly because communities were fearful of building again. On

the Indian side the situation was similar, with more support

requested for repairing damaged irrigation channels. Improved maize

seed was distributed to all households to ensure an autumn harvest.

Hence, crop inputs and water supply (for drinking or irrigation)

became programme priorities. Water supply became the activity

around which communities were mobilized and organized into

village groups, with office bearers elected in open meetings attended

by at least 75 per cent of villagers in all cases. Simultaneously, women

were encouraged to form activity-based groups that could be

supported through training or through the provision of grants or

credit. Both programme areas now have around 50 village organiza-

tions (VOs) of development committees and around 70 women’s

groups organized around specific, income-generating activities.

A key element of the programme has been to help communities

understand natural risk within their living environments and to

prepare for potential disaster. As a first step in addressing the seismic

risk affecting the area, AKDN commissioned a microzonation study

which helped to divide the region into areas of relative risk. This cate-

gorization allowed discussions with government and communities

on the absolute necessity of reconstructing seismic resistant homes

and selecting areas where public buildings such as schools and clinics

should, or should not, be built. This macro-level information is being

combined with localized hazard assessments by a team of geologists

working with village elders providing historical information on local

level disasters, to create village-level vulnerability maps.

Critical social and economic infrastructure

With the clearing, repairing and rebuilding of some parts of the main

valley road in Chakama, traffic along it improved dramatically and

essential materials for building and general sustenance began to arrive

in the valley. Simultaneously, the intense work of mobi-

lizing communities to create their own organizations

began. It was essential that the traditional leaders did not

feel threatened by the process of dialogue that encouraged

communities to elect officials they felt were dynamic,

honest, and would put community needs before their own.

The enormity of collective and individual need,

combined with AKDN’s clear commitment to support

infrastructure that would benefit whole communities,

convinced people of the need to create democratic orga-

nizations that would take the lead in the reconstruction

process. Thus, the size, route, types, and above all the

sustainability of the priority infrastructure projects for

drinking water and irrigation were intensely debated

with communities before construction began. In all of

the 42 water systems, 19 km of irrigation channels, 29

water mills and a micro-hydroelectric project, the

communities have elected project implementation and

audit committees to ensure quality and probity in the

projects. In addition, significant community contribu-

tions have been made either in the form of labour or as

a one-off contribution by each household together with

an agreement to pay a nominal user charge to ensure

that the systems can be maintained. The water systems

provide each village with a steady income that is also

used for other development purposes. In Chakama,

health and hygiene committees (50 per cent women)

work with communities on reducing the prevalence of

water-borne diseases.

Rebuilding seismic resistant homes

With basic infrastructure reconstruction underway and

the harvest completed, communities turned their atten-

tion to the coming winter and the need to rebuild their

homes. It was imperative that people rebuild homes that

were seismic resistant. To promote this, AKDN adopted

the following approach:

• A subsidy (in the form of materials and transport)

would be provided to each family wanting to build a

seismic resistant house based on the guidelines for

reconstruction that had been issued by the govern-

ments of India and Pakistan; the value of the subsidy

would cover the cost of incorporating the elements

providing seismic resistance and thermal insulation

in the construction.

• For the very vulnerable families in the villages, the

value of the subsidy would be doubled.

• For the poorest and most destitute family in each of

the revenue villages, to be identified by the VO,

AKDN would build a demonstration house, free of

charge. The construction of this would provide the

practical opportunity to train local masons in

seismic resistant construction.

• Construction would be owner-driven with regular

technical assistance and supervision provided by

AKDN engineers to ensure compliance with seismic

resistant construction guidelines.

• In Chakama, AKDN would establish a materials’

hub at the foot of the valley to help offset transport