Not easy getting inside, say NGOs

In fact, the Government today met UNICEF for the first time after the quake and they will now be going there to ‘‘assess the situation.’’

As of today, very few Indian NGOs have actually started work in the Valley. A FICCI team, led by secretary general Amit Mitra, had landed in Gujarat a day after the earthquake. For Kashmir, Mitra said that they were waiting to be given access to quake-hit areas.

‘‘Relief in Kashmir is in the hands of the Army. You can’t fly into Kashmir and start relief work. In Gujarat, we could fly in and drive in from every direction. You can’t do that in Kashmir. As soon as we have access to Kashmir, we will go in,’’ he said.

According to an Actionaid spokesperson, they are ‘‘entirely dependent on the local administration to take food, blankets and tents to villages in Uri and Tangdhar.’’

Actionaid coordinated a meeting with other NGOs like Oxfam, Medicines Sans Frontiers and Plan International to see the possibility of pooling in their infrastructural assets. According to their estimates, they will not be able to help more than 10,000 families when there are more than 40,000 families who require assistance given the approaching winter.

For the Home Ministry’s Disaster Management Cell, relief material is ‘‘more than adequate’’. But the Government is yet to send its central team of doctors to provide medical assistance. The reason: they are waiting for requests from the state administration, said P K Hota, Health Secretary.