Quake-struck residents are paid to restore drinking water supply

Naeem, a plumber from Lassan hamlet in Kaghan Valley, tightens a joint on a newly laid water pipe in his neighborhood.

"A lot of people are returning from relief camps now that they hear water systems are being repaired."

-- Bazgur of Bodgaran village, chairman of a community organization

Nearly half a million foreign tourists enter Pakistan every year, with at least half heading to northern Pakistan. Kaghan Valley was one such popular tourist destination until an earthquake devastated many hotels and businesses that sustained the region. The 7.6-magnitude quake struck Oct. 8, collapsing multi-story buildings along with mud homes. As houses and livelihoods were destroyed, so were gravity-fed water systems that carried spring water through a network of pipes and storage tanks to villages. Landslides broke or shifted pipes and cracked storage tanks. Without livelihoods, residents had little means to repair their water supply. Some moved to relief camps.

To provide Kaghan Valley residents with a source of income, help them regain clean drinking water and encourage those at camps to return home, USAID funded a collaborative program with partners ACTED and the International Medical Corps. The $100,000 cash-for-work program by ACTED pays local plumbers and unskilled labor to repair or lay new water pipes in 40 villages damaged in the quake. IMC supplies the equipment from a separate USAID-funded $2 million program. Nearly 7,500 men chosen by their communities have laid more than 112,000 feet of new pipe and replaced 40 damaged storage tanks with new 300-gallon plastic ones to restore the piped water supply from clean mountain springs to their villages. Supervised by local community groups, teams of unskilled workers dig ditches, salvage old pipe and lay new pipeline, at a prevailing daily wage of 200 rupees per person. A skilled plumber with each team tightens pipe joints and prevents water leakage. While encouraging a sense of ownership, the work helps men earn cash for their households at a time when tourism in Kaghan Valley has been devastated.

Before the quake killed his father, Naeem, of Lassan hamlet, worked as a waiter in a hotel. A trained plumber, he now earns 400 rupees a day for his widowed mother and five siblings, bringing running water to Lassan. A landslide swept away the original Lassan site, forcing residents to relocate to camps or a nearby field. With USAID's help, residents dug ditches and built a water system at their new location, saving multiple daily trips to a far-off spring. Thousands like Naeem are rebuilding their lives by earning cash for daily needs while restoring clean drinking water for themselves and their displaced neighbors.