Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan Saturday said that the harrowing memories of the deadly earthquake that shook AJK on October 8, 2005 were still fresh in the minds of the people.
Addressing a ceremony managed to pay homage to the deadly earthquake victims in the State metropolis, the PM said that the way the Pakistani nation came forward to help the Kashmiri quake affectees was something unprecedented and unforgettable.
“The people of Pakistan opened their treasures and donated wholeheartedly to rebuild lives of the homeless quake-survivors”, he said adding that the international community’s generous support also proved handy to restore normal life in the quick-devastated areas of the state.
While praying for the victims Prime Minister Azad Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan said that a monument would be built in memory of the martyrs of the 2005 earthquake, in which national events would be held in future. Terming death as an inescapable reality, the PM said, “Being Muslims we should always be prepared for death”. “Tragedies do happen so all that we need is the planning to deal with such natural calamities”, he said, adding that development of the state and securing the future of our next generations were his government’s top priorities.
He said that there was a dire need for creating public awareness to cope with any natural calamity. “Emergency kits should be mandatory in all government vehicles to avoid any accidents and training courses required to deal with natural calamities should be made mandatory in civil defense, schools, colleges”, he added.
Addressing the ceremony Minister State Disaster Management Authority Chaudhry Akbar Ibrahim said that due to the terrible earthquake of October 8, 2005, millions of people were displaced and thousands of buildings collapsed in a few seconds.
“The earthquake caused a loss of Rs 124 billion to infrastructure in Azad Kashmir”, he said adding that after this apocalyptic tragedy, the spirit with which the international community in general and the people of Pakistan and the Pakistan Army participated in the relief, rescue, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities of the victims of the earthquake was worthy of being written in golden letters in history.
Kashmiris, he said, would never forget their benefactors who contributed generously to heal the wounds of the earthquake victims and shared their pain during the testing times.
“The earthquake gave us an opportunity to correct the mistakes made in the past and play our role in a better future”, he said that the establishment of NDMA at the federal level and SDMA at the Azad Kashmir level was an important development in this regard.
“Despite limited resources, this organization (SDMA) has played a vital role in providing timely relief and rehabilitation to the flood victims in 2012, 2010 and 2014, Mirpur earthquake affectees in 2019 and the cross LoC firing victims”, he said. He said that capacity building of SDMA at state level and 1122 and DDMA at district level was being done with the support of World Bank.
The function organized by the State Disaster Management Authority in memory of the martyrs of October 8, 2005 was also attended and addressed by Government Ministers including Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, Chaudhry Muhammad Rasheed, Nisar Ansar Abdali, Deputy Speaker Chaudhry Riaz Ahmed, Chief Secretary Azad Kashmir Muhammad Usman Chachar, secretaries of the government, heads of departments, NGOs, students, civil and military officials and others.
