Click to play videoSrinagar: When the ground shook beneath his feet two years ago, Mohammed Sidiq was convinced he was going to die. But the 75-year old survived the massive earthquake, which went on to kill close to 75,000 people.
Among those killed were two of Sidiq's sons, his daughter-in-law and his grandson. Today Sidiq and what's left of his family live in Bela, one of many newly created hamlets and home to earthquake victims from all over Kashmir.
These people have now become refugees in their own land.
“How will we survive the winter? It will be bitterly cold,” says Mohammed Sidiq.
Some distance away, between the homes that are still being built, Rakeeda Begum waits for her husband to come home. Rakeeda's family was out of Uri when the earthquake flattened their home, and hence didn't make it to the government's compensation list. Now Rakeeda and her eight children live in a one-room home, their only income the Rs 100 her husband earns every day as a coolie.
“Winter is coming but we don't don’t have a house. My husband Rs 100 a day. How can we live on that?” says Rakeeda.
Many children at the camp suffer from serious health disorders, and medicare is virtually non-existent. None of Rakeeda's children go to school. NGOs working in the area admit that there was little planning behind the distribution of relief.
“Everybody just rushed in to give their relief, to help those people who were in need but there was very less of coordination and very less of thinking behind giving all that money,” says Project Officer, Action Aid, Saudia.
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