Quake victims in Shan State still under tarpaulin shelters

Many quake victims from Talerh (Talay) and Mong Lane (Monglin) village tracts of Shan State East’s Tachilek township, where a 6.8 magnitude of earthquake had struck on 24 March, are still living in tarpaulin shelters, as buildings materials are not enough not enabling them to complete their buildings, although the rainy season has arrived earlier than usual, according to local sources.

Only a few of the people could repair their houses while a large number of the people are still in need of materials like cement, stones, bricks, sand and zinc sheets, said a source from Talerh.


“There is a lot of distress when the rain comes. It is even worse when the wind comes, because tarpaulins are blown away. It is very difficult to live in such condition,” she said.

Besides the shelters, the people are also in need of food and water tanks, now that the flow of donations has slowed down, local people said.

“Less people are coming now because they are questioned by the authorities each time they come. They may also feel fed up after hearing that their assistance and donations were being sold by the local military families,” another source said.

Food and supplies like blankets, mats and tarpaulins for impacted villagers mainly come from people in Tachilek and Mae Sai, and some from Keng Tung. But they all were piled up at the junta relief shelters first before delivering them to the villagers including relief supplies coming from UN and NGO.

According to the latest report from Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which collaborates with humanitarian groups, since the earthquake struck and as of 27 March evening, a total of eight aftershocks were reported and the affected areas remain in the risk of landslides. And the number of damaged houses was 305 including a number of government buildings and hundreds of death tolls.

The Talerh based Relief and Resettlement Department has estimated the damage of the earthquake approximately at Kyat 3 billion (US$ 3.6 million), the report said.

The official announcement from MRTV4, the junta-run television station said that only 74 died and 125 injured.

Source:http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3728:quake-victims-in-shan-state-still-under-tarpaulin-shelters&catid=93:general&Itemid=291