Quake victims settle into newly built homes
TASHKURGAN: People who lost their homes in a May earthquake in Tashkurgan Tajik autonomous county, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, have started to move into new earthquake-resistant homes.
A 5.5-magnitude earthquake rocked Tashkurgan, home of people from the Tajik ethnic group on the Pamir Plateau, on May 11.
Eight people were killed and 31 injured, according to local officials. More than 4,750 houses were also destroyed.
The biggest reconstruction project is in Quzgun, the quake’s epicentre, where all the casualties were reported.
Last Wednesday, Quzgun villagers began to move into the first 52 new houses from the disaster-relief tents they had been living in for more than four months.
The family of Gulpiya Meli, 15, threw a traditional Tajik housewarming party upon moving into their new home.
The earthquake had destroyed her family home. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
“I cannot believe that I can sleep in the new house before school summer break is over,” she said while offering guests milk porridge as a gesture of welcome.
In June, the Xinjiang government pledged to build earthquake-resistant houses for the displaced before the harsh cold arrived.
More than 480 million yuan (RM312mil) was invested in the reconstruction project.
So far, 2,609 houses had been completed and 793 were ready for the locals to move in, with construction work ongoing for other units.
Mao Ermin, project manager at the Quzgun site, said it was not easy to build so many new houses on the plateau in just 83 days.
Tashkurgan sits at 3,090m above sea level and is close to the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“Many workers suffered from altitude sickness when they came to Tashkurgan in June. They carried on working, even with headaches, so the villagers could move in before winter arrives,” Mao added.
Mao and his team were invited to the housewarming party and watched the locals dance while some played the traditional Tajik eagle flutes in the new houses.
He said he believed the hard work had paid off. — China Daily/Asia News Network