Balakot earthquake survivors to stage protests in Peshawar, Islamabad

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], October 31 : Tired of the make-shift shelters, the survivors of the deadly October 2005 earthquake have announced to stage protests against continued delay in the allotment of plots as the people have been displaced since the natural disaster took place.
The angry mob decided not to stop the protests until given proper housing facilities as the government of Pakistan has repeatedly failed to address the situation of displaced families, Dawn reported.
"We are fed up with living in small makeshift shelters since displacement by the 2005 earthquake, but both federal and provincial government are indifferent to our misery that is visible from their failure to develop the New Balakot City in the last 17 years," chairman of the Tehreek-i-New Balakot City Mian Ashraf told protesters.
The plots were supposed to be provided to the quake-hit families in the New Balakot City housing project.
Ashraf further added that earthquake survivors from the Balakot Red Zone lived a miserable life in the Garlat makeshift shelters.
The protestors also criticised the successive governments of the PML-N, ANP, PPP and PTI over their failure to address the plight of the families displaced by the 2005 earthquake and stressed that they would stage protests sit-ins outside the provincial assembly's building in Peshawar and parliament house in Islamabad to demand an early allotment of plots in the New Balakot City, if the demands were not fulfilled, according to Dawn.