Pakistan Quake Recovery Seen As Success

The dusk sky darkens to red as injured earthquake survivors sit on beds and stretchers waiting for a helicopter to arrive and evacuate them from a river bank in Balakot, Pakistan in this October 13, 2005 file photo. Two years after the earthquake that killed 80,000 people in the mountains of northern Pakistan, survivors struggle with landslides and sky-high prices as they rebuild but virtually all will have adequate shelter this winter. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File) (David Guttenfelder - AP)

Many complain about inflation in the cost of building materials and transportation and say that life in the harsh yet idyllic mountains of Kashmir _ a disputed territory that is divided between Pakistan and India _ will never be the same.

"It will take many years to return my village and my home to the condition they were before the earthquake," said Mohammed Ayub, a 35-year old electrician as he received the last installment of the $2,900 grant from the government to rebuild his house.

His elder sister was killed and his father was injured in the temblor at their home village of Hariala Gujrian, about 22 miles southeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. He said it would cost $8,300 to rebuild their house and plans to work in the United Arab Emirates to raise money for his family.

The minister for rehabilitation and reconstruction in Pakistani Kashmir, Naseem Khan, said the vast scale of the disaster meant it would take time to recover, but said progress was promising.

"So far 70 percent of quake survivors have started the reconstruction of their houses in rural areas, and 98 percent of survivors have a roof over their heads," he said.

Among the unlucky ones is Mohammed Zamir, 38, father of five living in Thotha village, 12 miles from Muzaffarabad.

His family has suffered from the recurrent landslides that have always been a problem in this mountainous region but have worsened since the quake destabilized the terrain further.

"Our land was damaged by landslides triggered by the earthquake and now we are living in tents on rented land," Zamir said. "NGOs gave us iron sheets to build a shelter, but we have nowhere to build it."

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Associated Press writer Roshan Mughal in Muzaffarabad contributed to this report.