Summary and Highlights

Days since October 8th Earthquake:158

• The recent rainfall has caused landslides in many areas, cutting off road access to various locations across the affected area.
• As of March 15th, tents, tarpaulins and blankets brought in as relief goods will no longer be eligible to be imported free of customs duty.
• Helicopter capacity has decreased once again with reductions this week in both the ICRC and UNHAS fleets.

Contents

1.    Road Access
2.    Mapping
3.    Customs Advisory
4    LSS Pipeline
5.    Aviation Update: Helicopter Status

1. Road Access

The recent rainfall has caused landslides on many roads in the affected area, severely limiting road access in certain districts. Travel between Bagh and Sudhan Gali is restricted due to rockfalls, subsidence and electrical fires caused by damaged pylons. Many roads have been cut off once again in the Allai valley and the Neelum valley road is considered dangerous and Red No Go. Check our website for daily road status updates and corresponding maps.

2. Mapping

The UNJLC GIS team has finished collecting priority road assessment and GPS data and is now integrating this into the UNJLC map data set. The current focus is to produce an improved map layer showing accessibility across the area of operations. These maps will serve to support the UNJLC cargo movement cell in prioritising the use of air and road cargo transport. They will also support analyses of returnee movement, help identify potential bottlenecks due to road inaccessibility and influence decisions about where to establish new facilities to serve the reconstruction efforts. Other recent UNJLC GIS projects have included a map of flight tactical reference points for pilots to support the humanitarian air effort and the following map of landslide points in the Muzaffarabad district which serves to identify problem areas along the Neelum and Jhelum valley roads. For the full map catalogue and map request forms please see www.unjlc.org/pakistan/maps.

 3. Customs Advisory

The 14.10.05 exemption from customs duty, regulatory duty and sales tax offered by the Pakistan government for the import of relief items will be withdrawn effective March 15th 2006 for the import of blankets, tents and tarpaulins. After this date, only those relief goods complying with the conditions outlined under Heading 9911 of the Pakistan Customs Tariff will be eligible for an NOC (No Objection Certificate). This heading of the Pakistan Customs Tariff allows exemption for: "Relief goods donated by Foreign Government/Agencies for free distribution among the victims of natural disaster or other catastrophes as are certified by the authorized officer of Federal/Provincial government." If agencies or NGOs are confronted with any issues regarding this change they are invited to contact UNJLC Islamabad for assistance at pakistan.infoteam@unjlc.org.

4. LSS Pipeline

As mentioned in previous bulletins, in mid-December, UNJLC began using the LSS (Logistics Supply System) for
the purposes of NFI pipeline tracking. The goal has been to compile pipeline data from the Pakistan emergency to give an overview of agency and NGO pipeline data and provide for forward planning in terms of logistical support. As of March 14th, all February data has been posted at www.unjlc.org/pakistan/supply_chain. This includes the incoming/on order data as of March 14th, stock balance and cumulative distribution figures for February, draft 5 of the total operation summary and March pipeline projections for transport by road and air. UNJLC is also currently offering LSS training sessions to interested parties. These two-hour workshops will be held on March 17th, March 20th and March 24th and will cover general LSS information, logistics and training. Further sessions can be made available on demand. For more information and booking please contact UNJLC's LSS pipeline officer at tania.regan@wfp.org.

5. Aviation Update: Helicopter Status

The relief operation's helicopter capacity has been once again this week. An ICRC Puma crashed near Muzaffarabad on March 9th. Both crew members were injured but are recovering well and have now returned home. The second ICRC Puma and the ICRC Mi-26 are in the process of being redeployed.

UNHAS has cancelled the contracts of three more Mi-8s due to lack of funding. The aircraft are scheduled to leave on March 21st, taking the UNHAS fleet down to a total of 13 helicopters. The US Military Chinooks, Australian S-70s and German Stallions currently tasked by UNHAS will also be redeployed on March 31st at the end of their mandate. These combined departures will make for a severe reduction in humanitarian air capacity at a time when many areas remain inaccessible and roads are still subject to frequent landslides.

Cargo and passenger flights were largely cancelled between March 11th and March 14th due to bad weather. The current backlog of relief cargo is 3427 MT of food and 310 MT of NFI. Below are the totals of air cargo moved over the last week by UNHAS-tasked flights.