US embassy cable - 05ISLAMABAD16024

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 ISLAMABAD 016024 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE ALSO PASS TO USAID 
USAID/W FOR A/AID ANDREW NATSIOS, JBRAUSE 
DCHA/OFDA KISAACS, GGOTTLIEB, MMARX, RTHAYER, BDEEMER 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA 
SOUTH ASIA RESPONSE MANAGEMENT TEAM 
SOUTH ASIA EARTHQUAKE TASK FORCE 
DCHA/FFP FOR LAUREN LANDIS 
ANE DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR MARK WARD 
BANGKOK FOR OFDA SENIOR REGIONAL ADVISOR TOM DOLAN 
KATHMANDU FOR OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR WILLIAM BERGER 
ROME PASS FODAG 
GENEVA FOR RMA AND NKYLOH 
NSC FOR JMELINE 
EUCOM FOR POLA/J3/J4/J5 
BRUSSELS FOR USAID PLERNER 
NEW YORK FOR TMALY 
SECDEF FOR SOLIC/PKHA, USDP/J3 
JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC FOR J3/J4/J5 
HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE FOR J3/J5 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, AEMR, ASEC, MASS, ECON, KMDR, KPAO, OIIP, OPRC, PGOV, PREL, PK, Earthquake, Earthquake: USAID/DART Situation Report 
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN - EARTHQUAKE:  USAID/DART SITUATION REPORT 
 #6 
 
 
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Summary 
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1.  The USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) 
continues to facilitate the movement of excess U.S. military 
commodities to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for 
distribution in affected areas.  The USAID/DART  observed 
market activity and the delivery of food stocks to private 
businesses in Muzaffarabad.  The U.N. World Food Program 
(WFP) is attempting to obtain a needs assessment of the 
affected areas.  The International Committee of the Red 
Cross (ICRC) hospital is receiving patients in Muzaffarabad, 
and a U.S. mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) is becoming 
operational.  The U.N. and the Pakistani military have 
developed a long-term six-week transportation plan for 
relief commodities that will be presented for approval to 
the Government of Pakistan (GOP) on October 25. 
 
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Death Toll 
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2.  As of October 23, the GOP reported that the earthquake 
killed 51,382 people and injured 74,498 others.  According 
to the U.N., the number of severely affected people is 1.9 
million.  Severely affected refers to those individuals who 
have been affected in more than three clusters (clusters 
include food and nutrition, shelter, health, and water and 
sanitation). 
 
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Water and Sanitation - October 22 meeting in Islamabad 
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3.  On October 22, the USAID/DART Water and Sanitation 
Officer (WSO) attended the water and sanitation cluster 
meeting and reported that the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) 
and other members of the water sanitation sector are 
aggressively addressing water and sanitation needs in 
earthquake affected areas.  While water issues are being 
successfully addressed as relief organizations gain access 
to affected populations, sanitation related interventions 
are not as aggressively implemented.  Therefore, the water 
and sanitation cluster group is promoting sanitation 
interventions in affected areas and making sanitation the 
primary focus of the water and sanitation sector.  The 
cluster group believes the focus by relief organizations on 
safe water interventions without a corresponding aggressive 
sanitation intervention campaign will place the affected 
populations at risk of gastro-intestinal diseases.  The 
cluster group is actively promoting sanitation and has 
stated that future meetings shall be devoted to strategizing 
and identifying solutions to sanitation related issues. 
4.  The water and sanitation cluster group's plan to address 
needs in rural areas is to establish supply centers in 
valleys where water treatment tablets, soap, and water 
containers will be distributed and hygiene education will 
occur.  These activities are a priority due to the 
possibility that rural residents may soon be isolated due to 
winter weather.  The plan for urban areas is to meet SPHERE 
standards in urban camp settings, focusing on sanitation 
interventions such as latrine construction, soap 
distribution, and hygiene promotion. 
5.  UNICEF stated there is a shortage of pre-fabricated 
latrine slabs.  Oxfam is supplying 1,000 plastic slabs, and 
UNICEF has contracted with a metal shop in Islamabad for the 
construction of 1,000 metal latrine slabs.  The metal shop 
reported to UNICEF that they could construct 100 slabs per 
day.  If the metal slabs prove acceptable, UNICEF hopes to 
contract with other metal shops to increase production. 
6.  UNICEF is facilitating water and sanitation cluster 
meetings three times weekly in the humanitarian relief hubs 
of Muzaffarabad and Mansehra.  Cluster meetings have 
unofficially started in the hubs of Batagram, Bagh, and 
Balakot.  Water sanitation meetings in these areas are 
facilitated by NGO entities designated by UNICEF with the 
approval of the sector cluster.  Leads in the three hubs are 
as follows: Batagram-Life for Relief and Development; Bagh- 
Islamic Relief; Balakot- Oxfam.  UNICEF stated that water 
sanitation interventions will be directed at the district 
level. 
7.  UNICEF stated that the greatest immediate need is human 
resources.  UNICEF is expanding its water and sanitation 
staff to nine employees and hopes to increase the number of 
national water and sanitation specialists on their staff. 
UNICEF stated that the present numbers of relief workers 
addressing water sanitation issues in country is inadequate 
for the huge area affected by the earthquake.  The cluster 
group hopes to see an increase in NGO presence in-country 
over the next several weeks. 
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Water and Sanitation - Meetings in Muzaffarabad 
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8.  On October 24, the USAID/DART conducted a survey of the 
water and sanitation situation in Muzaffarabad and observed 
that the streets were relatively free of large piles of 
solid waste.  Residents were observed obtaining water from 
public water taps.  The USAID/DART tested water from the 
piped water system, and the test indicated the water was 
treated with chlorine.  There was no evidence of open 
defecation in public areas visited by team members. 
9.  A U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) medical officer 
in Muzaffarabad told the USAID/DART WSO that the infectious 
disease surveillance system revealed no unusual increases in 
communicable diseases in the areas reporting data.  The WHO 
medical officer stated that sanitation in rural areas is a 
concern, and WHO is adding a water and sanitation specialist 
to the WHO team to improve its technical capacity in 
sanitation intervention activities. 
10.  The Oxfam Public Health Coordinator stated that Oxfam 
and the local government have initiated a solid waste clean- 
up program which had been very effective.  Oxfam supported 
the local government in re-establishing solid waste 
collection and is having community clean-up campaigns.  The 
Public Health Coordinator stated that Oxfam is heavily 
involved in providing water and building latrines.  Oxfam 
has built 89 community latrines at camps in Muzaffarabad. 
Oxfam reported that there were not many people in the camps, 
and most people are staying near their homes or have left to 
go to Islamabad. 
11.  The CRS Water Sanitation Specialist stated that CRS is 
no longer providing water sanitation services in 
Muzaffarabad.  CRS is focusing water sanitation 
interventions on rural and semi-urban areas. 
 
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Food and Nutrition 
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12.  On October 21, a U.S. Embassy/Pakistan representative 
attended the food and nutrition cluster group meeting and 
reported that cluster group participants are still uncertain 
as to how food will actually get to people in affected 
areas.  The group reported that the U.N. Joint Logistics 
Center (UNJLC) and the U.N. Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) 
needs to double and triple some of their services, 
especially air capacity within Pakistan.  As the weather 
starts to changes, ration requirements will change.  WFP 
will try to incorporate this information into its plans. 
WFP hopes that its aerial assessments will be able to 
produce a need assessment of what food is needed, what 
bridges and roads are accessible, etc. by October 26.  WFP 
is putting together a strategy for rubhall (tent warehouse) 
storage capacity at the three hubs in Mansehra, 
Muzaffarabad, and Bagh.  WFP plans to have a 45-day supply 
of food at each rubhall hub. 
 
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Health 
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13.  The USAID/DART Health Officer (HO) reported that a 100- 
bed ICRC hospital in Muzaffarabad opened on October 21. 
ICRC is tracking the names of family members and villages, 
and if a child is under the age of 15, an adult may remain 
with the child in the hospital.  The ICRC hospital started 
receiving patients on October 21. 
 
14.  The Abbas hospital in Muzaffarabad received 787 
patients on October 20.  The hospital was damaged, but 
reopened a few days after the earthquake and has received a 
total of 10,549 patients since then.  Abbas hospital 
currently has zero bed capacity and is two to three days 
from stopping intake of new patients. 
 
15.  Many are encouraging the medical quote tent village end 
quote idea due to the lack of capacity at the Abbas 
hospital.  The GOP is starting a basic health unit.  The 
establishment of a U.S. MASH started on October 21.  The 
hospital will be located at the Prime Minister's 
Secretariat.  The U.S. MASH will be able to start surgeries 
 
SIPDIS 
by the evening of October 25. 
 
16.  The Ministry of Health (MOH) plans to immunize 120,000 
people against measles, tuberculosis (TB), diphtheria- 
pertussis-tetanus (DPT), and polio.  Vitamin A distributions 
are also occurring.  The MOH mobilized four mobile health 
teams on October 21, and started a health unit in Bagh and 
Relakot on the same day. 
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Logistics and Coordination 
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17.  The USAID/DART U.N. Liaison officer (UNLO) reported 
that the U.N. and the Pakistani military have developed a 
long-term six-week transportation plan.  The plan will be 
presented to the GOP for approval on October 25.  Under this 
plan, all critical items such as shelter materials, 
emergency relief supplies, and food would be transported 
from Islamabad to Abbottabad primarily by truck.  At 
Abbottabad, the Pakistani military and U.N. would establish 
a heavy lift capacity helicopter base.  From Abbottabad, 
heavy helicopters would be used to move goods to four 
locations:  Batagram, Naran, Muzaffarabad, and Chakothi. 
From these four locations, smaller helicopters would be used 
to transport items to villages at higher elevations and 
valleys. 
18.  The USAID/DART reports that as of October 24, the U.N. 
currently has 5 MI-8 helicopters in country, and they are 
expecting 3 additional Chinook CH-47s in the next 24 hours. 
These Chinooks were provided by the U.K. Royal Air Force and 
donated by the United Kingdom's Department for International 
Development (DFID) 
 
19.  On October 24, the USAID/DART team facilitated the 
movement of excess U.S. military commodities to include 
15,000 blankets to GOAL for distribution in Bagh, 43 tents 
to UNICEF, 1,536 sleeping bags and 840 cases of rations to 
Mercy Corps, and 107 cartons of medical supplies to WHO.  Of 
the 43 tents, 22 will be transported to Muzaffarabad and 21 
to Mansehra.  These medium-sized tents will be used for 
schools. 
 
20.  The USAID/DART UNLO reported that UNHAS plans to 
schedule a meeting with militaries who have flight capacity 
in Pakistan.  This includes the Pakistani, Japanese, German, 
American, and British militaries.  The meeting will also 
include the U.N. and international organizations.  The UNLO 
spoke to the Joint Task Force (JTF) Liaison Officer (LNO) at 
the Civil Military Coordination cell to request that the 
U.S. military possibly play a role in the planning of this 
meeting. 
 
21.  The U.N. has three hubs in Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, and 
Bagh.  One-thousand NATO troops will be arriving on October 
24.  This mixed battalion will include engineering and 
medical specialists, and they will be focusing on road 
infrastructure, latrines, and clearing land for temporary 
shelters and structures. 
 
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Tent Cities 
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22.  According to local media reports, the Cabinet Committee 
on Earthquake Relief, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation has 
decided to set up two quote tent cities end quote for 
earthquake victims.  The committee has decided that these 
tent cities will be in Fateh Jang and Chakal.  The tent 
cities will have electricity, water, and health, and 
education services. 
 
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USAID/DART Assessments 
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23.  On October 23 and 24, the USAID/DART in Muzaffarabad 
examined damage in Muzaffarabad.  While the team observed 
many destroyed buildings, streets were clear of debris and a 
large number of businesses were open.  The team observed 
many customers visiting shops.  Goods being sold included 
large amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables and freshly 
butchered meat.  Streets were clogged with traffic including 
large commercial trucks transporting food, dry goods, and 
animal fodder.  The team saw residents rehabilitating 
buildings and clearing debris and rubble.  The team's 
interpreter reported that food is being sold on the market 
in Muzaffarabad at 10 percent above the pre-earthquake 
price. 
 
 
CROCKER