LAHORE/ PESHAWAR, June 28: A spell of intermittent moderate to heavy rains, likely to last six days, began in Punjab, NWFP and Northern Areas on Thursday. The meteorological department said it expected the spell to intensify from July 1 to July 3, also covering the Sindh and Balochistan coastline. Read More

MORE than 250,000 people in Balochistan have either been rendered homeless or severely affected by a cyclone which lashed the coastal areas and the heavy rainfall which almost paralysed major parts of the province. At least 24 people have been reported killed in floods and rain-related incidents. Read More

Talking to Geo News, District Naib Nazim Naseerabad Mir Nizamud Din Lehri said that several villages including Goth Rehman, Goth Paliani and Goth Shatiani were submerged under water, as the flooded river overflowed onto the land. Read More

QUETTA, June 26: Tens of thousands of people fled for safety as cyclone Yemyin and high tides hit major parts of Balochistan coast and Ormara before noon and caused havoc in Pasni and Gwadar before moving towards the Iranian coast at around midday on Tuesday. Read More

CHITRAL, June 26: Daily life was affected in the Booni town after flood badly hit the infrastructure in the town. Read More

 KARACHI: Thousands of people were evacuated from southern coastal areas and put the military on high alert as a tropical cyclone headed towards the shores of Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Read More

THATTA: The state of emergency has been declared in various cities of Sindh and Balochistan in view of rain and cyclone and control rooms have been set up to facilitate the civilians. Read More

KARACHI, June 25: Authorities started evacuating people from the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan on Monday as a powerful storm over the northern Arabian Sea intensified into a tropical cyclone about 150 kilometres from Karachi. Read More

KARACHI: Next 6 to 12 hours have been declared as highly sensitive in view of storm, heavy rainfall and flood situation as forecast by national and international organizations. Read More

HUB: Balochistan areas including Hub, Gadani, Dam, Sonmiani and Sakaran received heavy downpours, after which the low-lying areas were flooded; whereas, sea waves rose to six to eight feet high near the coastal areas. Read More

QUETTA, April 29: A mild tremor, measuring 4.6 on the Richter Scale, jolted Gwadar and adjoining areas at around 11:35am on Sunday. No damage or casualty was reported. Read More

Oxfam GB is planning to conduct drought assessment in district Dadu (in Sindh province) and Khuzdar (in Balochistan province) during the month of May 2007. Read More

On April 25, 2007, in Mansehra, atleast one hundred families displaced by Oct 8 EQ, left the Kashtra tent village for their native villages Kagan, Patten Den, Mahandry, Kamal Bin, Khanyan and other areas in a convey of 110 trucks. Read More

In Muzzafarabad, nearly two hundred Kashmiries affected by earthquake staged a token hunger strike on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 against what they called the apathy of authorities towards their plight. Read More

Standing wheat crop on thousands of acres was badly affected due to heavy rains followed by a strong dust storm in Sialkot and Narowal districts, particularly in villages along the working boundary. Read More

A UN survey has warned that if environmental degradation continuous at the same pace, chances are that rising sea level and storms in coastal areas may inundate coastal cities including Karachi. Read More

ISLAMABAD: Strong tremors felt across India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday rattled electric and telephone poles and triggered panic in held Kashmir, witnesses said. The tremor was felt in different parts of Punjab including Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Kohat, Hangu, Kark, northern areas and Kashmir. The tremors were felt as far as the Indian capital of New Delhi and Afghan capital of Kabul. The meteorological office in Pakistan said it was a moderate earthquake centered in the Hindukush Mountains. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The United States Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude 6.4.

CHITRAL, April 2: At least 55 people were killed and 15 injured when avalanches hit three villages here as the region remained in the grip of a severe snowstorm. As many as 40 people were buried alive under the snow when an avalanche struck Washich village on Sunday morning. Fifteen people were injured in the incident. So far, 26 bodies have been dug out by rescue teams of army, police, civil society organisations and local people. Read More

Downpour and severe hailstorm that struck Parachinar and different areas of Kurram Agency Friday night continued till Saturday night, triggering high flood in river Kurram, which washed away Mahura and Bagzai-Alizai bridges. Scores of houses on both banks of the River Kurram were damaged and the people, who suffered huge losses, started moving to safer places. Read More

PESHAWAR, March 31: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has suspended repatriation indefinitely following the killing of an Afghan national near the verification centre and subsequent riots here on Saturday, police said.Police fired tear gas shells and resorted to baton-charge to disperse a mob that had blocked the Peshawar-Torkham road. Read More

PARACHINAR, March 31: Torrential rains followed by hailstorm and heavy flood in river Kurram played havoc with property in Kurram Agency on Saturday and rendered dozens of families homeless, officials said. Read More

Across Pakistan-administered-Kashmir, the same rubble-strewn scene is repeated as irate locals allege that assistance from the government has been far from forthcoming. Instead, they say, most of the population has been forced to fend for itself, with some help from non-government organisations. In the hamlet of Lashdahar, 50km from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, most of 3,000 inhabitants continue to live in tents and a large number interviewed by IRIN said they had not received any assistance from the government to rebuild their homes.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 40 people across Pakistani-administered Kashmir, an aid official confirmed on Wednesday. Apart from the deaths caused by landslides, about 350 families have been left stranded in a remote village in Jhelum Valley at an altitude of more than 1,500 metres. Many roads in the area have been blocked due to a series of landslides following heavy rains that started on Sunday evening.

Authorities in Pakistani-administered Kashmir have announced plans to close by the end of June all tented camps housing thousands of people displaced by a massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake in October 2005. About 30,000 quake-displaced people, comprising more than 5,000 families, continue to live in about 44 makeshift settlements in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. More than 600 families living in camps are landless while another 1,700 households are categorised as vulnerable, including orphans, the elderly and female-headed households, according to camp management officials.

At least six bodies were recovered from rubble in a landslide-hit village of Pakistani-administered Kashmir on Thursday, while Pakistani soldiers and local villagers continued their search for another 20 missing people, aid officials said. A four-day long spell of torrential rains and snow, which stopped late on Wednesday, triggered landslides that hit hamlets on the mountains and blocked already hard to access roads across the region - which was devastated by a massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake in October 2005.

UBAURO (Ghotki), March 24: Twelve villages of Kutcha area have been permanently inundated and standing crops over hundreds of acres of land damaged during the last eight months as Indus River has changed its course near here. Read More

ISLAMABAD , 13 March 2007 (IRIN) - Shelters for 35,000 Pakistani earthquake survivors have been "winterised", but supplies to mountainous areas are threatened by rain and snow, which are cutting off key communication links, aid workers say. Read More

PESHAWAR, March 12: The federal government has devised a fresh policy for the landless families in the five earthquake-hit districts of the NWFP, according to some officials. Read More

The earthquake of October 2005 devastated parts of Pakistan, but it left the Manoor Valley less seriously damaged than other areas in the Himalayas. Even so, the Valley is a high-altitude area prone to chronic food shortages during winters, and now the situation is worse because of high market prices related to the quake. Infrastructure—including secondary roads, footpaths, irrigation channels, check dams, field terraces, and retaining walls—has also been damaged, and livelihood options are few. Read More

ISLAMABAD, March 4: A national disaster risk management framework has been prepared, setting out capacity-building priorities at national, provincial and local levels. The framework, developed after extensive consultations, is likely to be approved by the National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) which is scheduled to hold its first meeting here on Monday (today) with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in the chair. Read More

MUZAFFARABAD, Feb 27: Earthquake survivors from landslide-prone areas on Tuesday called for provision of land for reconstruction of houses as a senior official elaborated repatriation plans for displaced persons. Raja Mohammad Abbas said that survivors from rural areas living in camps would be repatriated to their native villages by early April to rebuild their houses. However, survivors from urban areas would not be disturbed until satellite towns were developed for them. Similarly, he said, the landless families would also be repatriated in the last phase. Read More

VEHARI, Feb 10: Over 15 people were injured while about a dozen mud houses and makeshift shops were collapsed in rain-related incidents during the last 24 hours in Vehari. The hailstorm accompanied by heavy rain hit the entire district, disrupting power supply and flooding low-lying areas, including Luddan, Karampur, Machiwal, Muslim Town. While these localities remained without power supply for eight hours. The hailstorm also badly damaged the standing wheat crop in Luddan, Thingi, Karampur, Jalla Jeem, Tibba Sultanpur, Garah Morr, Chakrala, Pipli Stop and other areas. Read More

A strong westerly wave is affecting the earthquake hit areas which may cause widespread Rain/Thundershower with snowfall over the hills at times heavy during next 3 to 4 days.  Read More

PESHAWAR, Feb 10: A mild earthquake jolted northern parts of the NWFP here on Saturday night. According to the Metrological Office, the earthquake measured 4 on the Richter scale and it jolted Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan districts of the NWFP. The epicenter of the quake was stated to be 200 kilometres northeast of Peshawar.

A weak westerly trough is persisting over earthquake hit areas, which may cause isolated light rain/thunderstorm with snowfall over the hills during next two days. Read More

KATHMANDU, 8 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - Peace talks between Nepal’s Maoist rebels and the interim government of seven national parties concluded on Wednesday morning after nearly five months of negotiations aimed at ending the decade-long armed conflict, which has killed over 14,000 people. Read More

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan, Jan 5, 2007 (AFP) - More than 20 people were trapped and feared dead Friday when a landslide triggered by recent rain hit their vehicle in the Pakistan-administered zone of Kashmir, officials said. Read More

Pakistan: Helping quake survivors cope with a tough winter

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Pakistan Red Crescent are distributing shelter materials and relief items in earthquake-affected areas of northern Pakistan to help still-vulnerable families survive the cold months ahead. Read More

PESHAWAR, 27 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - The Pakistani government’s plan to lay landmines and build a fence along its border with Afghanistan has been condemned by humanitarian groups. It follows criticism from Kabul and the US that Pakistan has not been doing enough to stop pro-Taliban militia from crossing into Afghanistan. Read More

ISLAMABAD, 27 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations (UN) is launching an operation to help improve the nutrition of thousands of women and children in the southern province of Balochistan, officials said on Wednesday. Read More

ISLAMABAD, 22 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Pakistan’s earthquake of October 2005, the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, served as a window of opportunity for empowering Pakistani women and enabling them to take an active role in building disaster-resilient communities, noted this year’s World Disasters Report of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Read More

ABBOTTABAD, 22 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - The massive challenge of restoring local government capacity across the quake zone of northern Pakistan is gathering momentum – thanks to a multi-million-dollar international initiative. Read More

DARRA ADAM KHEL, 20 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - It is not uncommon to hear the sound of gunfire in the small town of Darra Adam Khel, 42 miles south of Peshawar, the provincial capital of Pakistan's rugged North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Read More

MANSEHRA, 15 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - As the snow falls in the mountains of quake-stricken northern Pakistan, the race is now on to provide support in the valleys below for thousands of families driven from their homes by severe weather. Read More

KALA DHAKA, 14 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - More than a year after a powerful earthquake devastated northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir there are still communities that had been left out in the quake zone. The isolated tribal area of Kala Dhaka in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) was badly affected by the last year’s disaster but such is the remoteness of this ‘forbidden’ corner of North West Frontier Province that no coordinated international aid effort ever came there. Read More

PAKISTAN: Health alert in quake community

KHANIA, 8 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - A health alert was triggered in quake-stricken Pakistani-administered Kashmir this week, after scores of children within a remote mountain village fell seriously ill with a suspected ‘water-borne’ disease. Read More

SLAMABAD, 27 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), together with the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), is ready to start distribution of transitional shelter kits to some 13,500 families affected by last year’s massive earthquake in northern Pakistan. Read More

ISLAMABAD, 29 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has completed seed distribution for the winter wheat crop across Pakistan’s earthquake-affected region, officials said on Wednesday. Read More

BALAKOT, 29 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - The future looks brighter for more than 41,000 people in remote mountain communities in Pakistan’s earthquake zone thanks to a determined drive to complete water supply schemes by one international aid agency before the onset of winter. Read More

MUZAFFARABAD, 23 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - As the first snow falls on the peaks above the towns and villages of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) decimated in the earthquake of October 2005, UN World Food Programme (WFP) officials in the field say they are ready for the hard months ahead. Read More

MUZAFFARABAD, 9 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - One year after the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s 59-year history, which left 75,000 people dead and another 3.5 million homeless, progress on earthquake recovery has remained slow and many reconstruction programmes are facing a funding deficit. Read More

Kyrgyzstan's fragile democracy was again tested this week when President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a new constitution limiting his powers and providing more authority to the parliament. The document, approved by parliament on Wednesday, was an effort to stem mounting protests in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Read More

At least four people have been killed and five others are missing after flash floods, triggered by torrential rains, hit the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Friday. Read More

In an effort to reopen hundreds of schools, closed due to fear of attacks from insurgents in southern Afghanistan, local tribal elders in Helmand province have helped the government to open the doors of at least 20 schools in the past two weeks, local officials said on Tuesday. Read More

Peace talks between Nepal's Maoist rebels and the interim government of seven national parties concluded on Wednesday morning after nearly five months of negotiations aimed at ending the decade-long armed conflict, which has killed over 14,000 people. "This is a historic moment for all of us but there are still huge challenges ahead of us," Maoist leader Prachanda said, speaking at a press conference in the capital after the talks. Read More

With extortion, threats and intimidation still common in many parts of rural Nepal, security will remain a serious challenge for many months to come despite Wednesday's landmark peace deal, political leaders said on Thursday. "The Maoists have to create an environment free of fear for the people," said Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who is also the chairman of Nepali Congress (NC), the country's largest party. He added that a secure environment is needed to make the elections for the constituent assembly, scheduled for June 2007, successful. Read More

Pakistani authorities on Tuesday said they were trying to increase the pace of Afghan registration, while urging more Afghans to come forward for registration before the exercise ends on 31 December. "There have been difficulties regarding registration sites, mobile units, and in accessing the census data, which are under review. Now, there is a need to accelerate the process through better planning and management on behalf of all the involved partners, to get good results in the end," Sajid Hussain Chattha, Secretary of the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), said at a press briefing in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.  Read More

The sound of children playing, which till a few weeks ago could be heard all around the building housing the Ashiana shelter for women and children, has faded away. Home to orphaned quake victims, widows and the elderly over the past year, the Ashiana shelter was shut down in late October as a result of wrangling between officials of the government's Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) and the NGO which ran the operation. Read More

ISLAMABAD, 9 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - The reconstruction of health and educational infrastructure in Pakistan’s northern earthquake-affected zone is being delayed partly due to problems in allocating land to build new facilities, an international aid agency has said. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had been scheduled to start the construction of some 100 primary schools and 13 Basic Health Units (BHUs) in the Battagram district of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in October. “Due to delays in allocating land to construct these structures, we have not been able to start rebuilding so far, hence slowing down the pace of reconstruction and increasing the timeline for completion of the projects,” Yasuyuki Uehara, a JICA project adviser told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Thursday. Read More

ISLAMABAD, 26 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - A multi-million dollar health recovery plan aimed at maintaining transitional medical services through the winter in quake-affected northern Pakistan is now under threat due to a severe lack of funds, officials warned on Tuesday. “Of the US $40 million needed to fund health programmes from May 2006 to April 2007, we have so far received only between $14 to $16 million,” Dr Rayana Bouhaka, head of the earthquake emergency health programme at the World Health Organization (WHO), said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Read More

MUZAFFARABAD, 20 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Despite his mother’s presence, seven-month-old Umer Naseem continues to cry out loud. Admitted two days earlier to the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) in Muzaffarabad, capital of quake-ravaged Pakistani-administered Kashmir, he suffers from acute watery diarrhoea and is not easily consoled. Read More

PAKISTAN: United Nations mindful of local customs in quake-affected region

MUZAFFARABAD, 18 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations (UN) in northern Pakistan remains mindful of local customs and traditions following criticism by some religious clerics in the quake-affected region that some members of the humanitarian community had not been observing appropriate behaviour and dress codes in their employment of women. Read More

PAKISTAN: United Nations quake zone camp closing 

MUZAFFARABAD, 13 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations camp in quake-affected Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, and a key staging ground for one of the largest international humanitarian responses ever, will close at the end of September. Read More

PAKISTAN: Radio offers hope to quake survivors 

MUZAFFARABAD, 11 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - Radio program that target the needs of quake survivors are gaining in popularity in displaced persons camps like the one in Upper Bab-e-Neelum in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.  Read More

ISLAMABAD: As the first anniversary of Pakistan’s deadliest earthquakes approaches, one of the main issues that has arisen is the fact that the survivors living in mountains and the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) are at odds on the use of building materials. It has neither been an easy task for the authorities nor the survivors to come so far and yet been safe from any deadly epidemic or a “second death” during the first harsh winter. Read More

ISLAMABAD: Unicef will construct 500 permanent schools and around 70 permanent rural health centers in quake-hit areas, as part of its 150 million dollar contribution to the recovery plan for affected areas under three year program. The earthquake damaged or destroyed almost 10,000 schools and three quarters of the area’s health facilities. Read More

Five months on, quake relief moves to reconstruction

ISLAMABAD, 8 March (IRIN) - Marking five months on from the day the massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck northern Pakistan, aid workers on Wednesday highlighted the daunting road ahead as relief turns to reconstruction in quake-hit communities as weather improves. Read More

OTTAWA -- International Cooperation Minister, Josée Verner, and Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter MacKay, announced today that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will maintain its Afghanistan development funding level at $100 million for 2006-07, bringing Canada's total contribution to over $650 million from 2001-2009. The Ministers also announced new initiatives which build upon the progress already made in enhancing security, addressing the drugs challenge, creating economic opportunities, and building confidence in government. Read More

WFP welcomes US $2 million quake contribution from Saudi Arabia 

ISLAMABAD, 9 March (IRIN) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US $2 million cash contribution from Saudi Arabia to help the survivors of the massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit northern Pakistan last October. Read More

From his helicopter window, Dr. Pierre Duplessis says it was almost as if nothing had happened. "It's a vivid contrast because nature is so beautiful in Pakistan. But then suddenly the helicopter lands and it starts; you see the devastation all around." Read More