Bulletin 42 - Logistics update / April 6th - April 12th 2006

Content

Summary and Highlights

Days since October 8th Earthquake:186

• Landslides caused by heavy rain over April 8th and 9th have once again affected road access in the area of operations.
• UNOPS is due to end its operation in Pakistan on April 20th owing to lack of funding, which will have a serious effect on road assessments in hard to access areas.
• Humanitarian air capacity has remained stable over this last week, however if additional funding is not received, the UNHAS fleet may be reduced to four Mi-8s as of May 4th. 
   

 Contents

1. Road Access
2. Operations Update
3. UNJLC Batagram
4. Mapping
5. Aviation Update: Helicopter Status

1. Road Access

 Many roads throughout the affected area remain cut off or dangerous because of snow, avalanches, mudslides, landslides, falling rocks and erosion due to earthquake damage. Heavy rain on April 8th and 9th once again caused many landslides, further hampering road access throughout the affected area. Two landslides occurred on the KKH near Batagram. These have now been cleared but UNDSS have placed all outlying areas out of bounds for a few days until the situation stabilises. In the Bagh area, the road from Lasdanna to Mehmood Ghali is considered dangerous and Red No Go. In the Mansehra region, the roads from Balakot to Kaghan and Jabori to Mundi Tarli are blocked once again. Around Muzaffarabad, the Jheelum and Neelum valley routes are largely closed and Red No Go, as are the roads from Lamnian to Lipa and Chikar Junction to Sudan Gali. Many of these may take some time to clear. As reported in previous bulletins, UNJLC has been assessing routes used for relief cargo transport and the IDP returns process. The UNJLC road access form has been changed to reflect this new information and many priority roads have been added. A system of markers has also been established for roads which are harder to report on. This means that users can see at a glance if they should contact UNJLC or UNDSS in the hubs to request further information, specific route assessments or UNDSS security support before travel. UNJLC road updates and road conditions maps can be found here -->. Requests to be added to the mailing list should be forwarded to pakistan.roadupdates@unjlc.org.

2. Operations Update

Humanitarian operations are being slowed by a lack of agreement from the Pakistan Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) on the role the international relief community should play in the next phase of the mission. UN and NGO projects are not being approved, meaning there is little cargo currently moving. By the time funding is approved and reconstruction goods arrive, air support to inaccessible areas may no longer be available.

Because their planned projects have not yet been approved, UNOPS will have to cease operations from April 20th. This will severely impact on road assessments in hard to access areas, road clearance work after landslides and avalanches, the transport of construction materials and labour teams to inaccessible areas, and assistance with IDP returns when they take place along dangerous routes.  It will also affect post-return monitoring in inaccessible areas, despite a request by UNICEF for UNOPS assistance in this process. UNOPS field staff are currently in the process of withdrawing from the hubs.

3. UNJLC Batagram

As reported in bulletin 41, an earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale occurred in Batagram on April 4th, damaging many buildings in the area, including the hotel where the majority of local UN organisations shared office space. This hotel is now considered unsafe and has been evacuated. In line with other agencies, UNJLC will be moving its field representative for the area down to Mansehra. Most of the Batagram area IDP returns are now complete and the change in location is not expected to disrupt operations.

4. Mapping

UNJLC's GIS Unit has incorporated roads from ongoing road survey efforts into the ground accessibility analysis.  Updates to maps using this data include the Returnee Locations Accessibility (map 243) and HLZ Accessibility (map 219). These are available on request from unjlcmapping@gmail.com, and will soon be available for downloading from Mapshttp://www.unjlc.org/pakistanby COB 13-April. 

5. Aviation Update: Helicopter Status

Helicopter capacity has remained stable over the last week. One more UNHAS Mi-8 is scheduled for redeployment on April 12th, which will bring the UNHAS fleet down to 12 helicopters. However if no further funding is received, UNHAS will be forced to bring its fleet down to only 4 Mi-8s as of May 1st. Under this revised fleet projection, passenger flights would continue but on a reduced schedule. Partial cost recovery for passenger flights will be implemented as of May 4th, and special flights will only be provided on a full cost recovery basis. Cargo flights will continue to operate but at a very low capacity. 

Meanwhile all UNHAS passenger and cargo flights were cancelled on Monday, April 10th due to alleged violations of the Line of Control. As of March 12th, all flights have resumed, however requests must be filed for operations to all locations within 10 km of the LoC. These are cleared on a case by case basis.