BEIJING, Nov. 5 -- The October 8 earthquake should not be a disaster only to Pakistan and Pakistanis. It is also a huge natural catastrophe to the international community and all human beings living in our global village.

    The Pakistani Government and its people should by no means be alone in their efforts to help victims of the strongest earthquake that has hit the South Asian region in 100 years.

    Can we remain indifferent to the following ruthless figures? The death toll of the October 8 quake north of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, dramatically increased to 73,276 on Wednesday from a figure of 57,600 given a day earlier. The number is expected to rise further as rescue efforts continue. More than 70,000 have been found injured and millions homeless.

    Can we still remain unaffected when hearing the earnest appeals for help from the disaster areas and the victims?

    On Wednesday, Pakistan's Federal Relief Commissioner Major-General Farooq Ahmad Khan called upon the international community to be quicker to offer a helping hand to his country with its relief efforts and rebuilding work.

    More than 3.3 million homeless in the earthquake-hit region have yet to gain access to tents, food, medicines and other necessary daily articles, according to Khan.

    At a time when the mankind is far from capable of conquering the mysterious forces of nature and still remain extremely vulnerable before the power of the cosmos, no one can predict who on earth will be the next victim.

    The outbreak of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the devastating hurricanes in the United States, as well as the ongoing spread of bird flu across the world demonstrate that the inhabitants on this globe, wherever they are, are often weak and helpless before an unexpected major natural disaster.

    Given that our developed science and knowledge still can not accurately foresee or completely stop a natural calamity, what we can do is when it befalls, we, with our tangible and immediate actions, tell the victims they are by no means lonely and they have other fellows firmly standing together with them.

    The solidarity among members of the international community against numerous natural disasters in the past hammers home the power of altruism.

    On the relief work in Pakistan this time, such a helpful and generous spirit has also been embodied to a large degree.

    One batch after another of assistance goods have been transported or airlifted from various nations and from international humanitarian groups to the quake-stricken region. The immediate and valuable aid has played an active role in saving more lives and reducing further losses.

    But the assistance from the international community is far from enough, given the severe conditions facing the disaster region.

    There are only weeks left before the frigid winter comes to the mountainous Himalaya region, where the quake survivors are concentrated. Snowfalls are expected to seal off villages there, which would cause extreme difficulties to the operation of the relief work.

    Pakistan's meteorological service authorities have forecasted a snowfall as deep as 3 metres near the epicentre of the October 8 quake this winter. Also, rescue teams, hampered by landslides that block mountain roads, have yet to reach some villages in the devastated Pakistan-controlled Kashmir region.

    So far, as many as 200,000 tents are still needed to provide shelter to survivors in the region, and more money is needed to bolster the operations of the international relief agencies. Less than a quarter of the US$550 million needed for aid agency emergency programmes has been pledged by donor nations.

    The risk is increasing that many aid agencies would have to halt their work if no additional funding is received in days to come.

    More money means more lives can be saved.

    In an era when the fates of all human beings are tightly bound, giving others a helping hand means we can also expect to get one from others in time when we need it.Enditem

(Source: China Daily)