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UNHCR boosts winterisation campaign in relief camps

December 21, 2005

ISLAMABAD, December 21 (UNHCR) – In the continuing battle against the cold in northern Pakistan’s quake zone, the UN refugee agency is stepping up its winterization campaign in relief camps by starting a new round of blanket distribution and exploring ways to keep quake survivors warm while minimising the risk of tent fires.

On Monday, UNHCR staff started the third round of distribution to camps in Mansehra and Muzaffarabad to supplement earlier dispatches of aid. “We’re providing each person with three blankets, and each tent with four mattresses, two plastic sheets and one stove,” said UNHCR’s emergency coordinator for earthquake relief in Pakistan, Indrika Ratwatte. “Many relief items have already been distributed in the last few weeks, and this latest round of distribution is to fill gaps to make sure everyone receives the full package needed to help them cope with winter.”

Afghan refugee Abdul Munaf building a mud structure and exhaust system to contain the flames from a heating stove in Hassa camp, Balakot. © UNHCR/V.Tan

The blankets and mattresses provide personal insulation, while the plastic sheets are used to cover the tents’ roof and ground for additional warmth.

Muslim Hands camp in Mansehra on Monday received 3,741 blankets and 734 mattresses, while four camps in Muzaffarabad received 7,550 blankets and 570 plastic sheets. In total, UNHCR will distribute more than 77,000 plastic sheets, 250,000 blankets and 29,000 stoves in this round of distribution.

The issue of heating stoves is a sensitive one, with fears of fires starting in tents.To address this challenge,UNHCR is tapping on the expertise of Afghan refugees who survived their first winters in Pakistan under similar conditions.

“When I first arrived in 1979, I lived in a tent and had to find a way to keep warm in the winter,” said Abdul Munaf, a refugee from Afghanistan’s Laghman province. “Stoves were not safe because the tent could easily catch fire. So my friends and I built a mud brick structure inside the tent and placed the stove under it, keeping the flames away from the tent’s walls. There’s also an outlet for the smoke.”

Abdul now lives in a mud house in Mansehra’s Barary camp, and has no need for a firewall. But he is still building them, travelling from camp to camp to demonstrate to earthquake survivors how they, too, can keep warm in tents while minimizing the risk of fire.

These “model” tents, which are pitched in a pit about 2 feet deep to stay close to the earth’s warmth, are currently being discussed with the Pakistan army that is running many of the relief camps. As an added precaution, the military has placed several fire stops in each camp with fire safety tips, fire extinguishers and pails filled with sand.

As lead agency of the camp management cluster, the UN refugee agency is providing material and technical support to the Pakistan authorities and nongovernment organisations in 36 planned camps. The agency is also improving living conditions in an increasing number of self-settled camps by sending its technical mobile teams to build latrines, communal kitchens and other infrastructure to provide basic services in these camps.