Quake-hit People in India held-Kashmir Still Not Compensated
'Pakistan Times' Kashmir Desk

SRINAGAR (IHK): More than one and half-years after October 8, 2005 earthquake shattered lives of thousands of people in parts of Kupwara and Baramulla district, denial of relief complaints still pour in with people saying that the puppet regime’s promises in this regard proved a hoax, reports KMS.

Dozens of families in areas of Tangmarg like Khanzpora, Chunt Patheri and Khumchipora have been left by the regime to fend for themselves. These areas bore the brunt of the quake.

Amina Begum, 33, of Chunt Patheri lost her husband - the only bread earner of family of six - in a road accident. Her husband Ghulam Hassan Wani used to work as a laborer at Gulmarg to feed his family, which consisted of his 75-year old father, wife and four kids.

Hassan’s death fell like a tragedy on the poor family. The family was yet to reconcile the death of Hassan that another tragedy fell on them. Their house got collapsed due to the killer tremors.

“I got widowed in 2004 when my husband was killed in 2004 in a road accident. I have four small kids and old age father-in-law. There is no one to take care of us”. Amina says that they didn’t receive even a single penny as compensation from the puppet administration. “We are virtually living life of beggars and there is no one to take care of us”.

Sara Begum’s tragic story is more or less same. She lives with her 75-year-old mentally retarded husband Ahsan Sheikh in Khanzpora village of Tangmarg. “We are childless and there is no one to take care of me and my mentally retarded husband.

We lost our house on Oct 8 and since then I have been making rounds of the offices concerned to settle compensation claim,” 70-year-old Sara said.●