BALAKOT, Oct 11: Stinking corpses, razed houses, scattered graves, cracked roads and smashed vehicles was what this correspondent saw during a visit to Balakot on Monday.

Balakot was once the most beautiful place of Pakistan but now it is a dead city. The residents of the area told this reporter that 90 per cent houses in the area had been razed and over 60 per cent people had lost their life, mostly the schoolchildren. About 700 students were buried alive in three different schools.

Some survivors are still trapped in the collapsed buildings and one can hear their screams calling for help. Though army has set up camps here, there is no machinery to remove the tonnes of rubble and pull out the survivors and the decaying bodies.

The residents of the area tried to retrieve their loved ones from the rubble on self-help basis but they met with little success.

A large number of people, who luckily escaped the tragedy, are searching for food and shelter with rain and hailstorm and increasing cold adding to their miseries.

Volunteers have established medical camps at every 10 km of the area and ministering to the injured people.

A resident told this reporter that though relief goods had reached in different areas, most of these goods were distributed among the undeserving people.

He said people from the neighbouring areas of Balakot came to the city early in the morning to collect goods and then go to their homes in the evening. They are also looting valuables from the debris of the collapsed buildings.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday said that the government had a plan to make Balakot a model town, and he had already issued directives to the economic affairs division in this regard.

This was stated by the prime minister while talking to senior staff reporter of daily Dawn Ahmed Hassan over telephone. The prime minister had contacted Mr Hassan to express condolence over the death of his brother, two nieces and other relatives in the earthquake in Balakot.

Mr Hassan informed the prime minister about the situation in Balakot. He told the prime minister that the situation could worsen in Balakot as the dead bodies had started getting decomposed.

The prime minister said the government had made arrangements for sprays in these areas to prevent epidemics.

The prime minister condoled the death of Mr Hassan’s brother and other relatives and prayed to Allah Almighty to rest the departed soul in eternal peace and grant courage to the bereaved family to bear the loss.