Quake Victims Brace For Snow

Forecasts of snow in larger towns of northern Pakistan added to the ordeal of quake survivors Saturday as the Indian army said a plan to help Pakistani victims by letting them cross to aid camps in India's territory must be scaled back for now because of land mines.

The vast majority of the 80,000 deaths from South Asia's Oct. 8 quake were on Pakistani ground, but the disaster struck both countries, bringing the fierce rivals closer and prompting an accord to partially open their frontier in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

The two sides agreed on Oct. 29 to open five crossings starting Monday to let Kashmiris check on family members across the frontier, ease the delivery of relief provisions and give survivors in Pakistani territory access to aid camps being set up on the Indian side.

But the Indian army said Saturday that because of the continuing threats of land mines and landslides at two of the locations only three of the crossings would be ready to open by Monday.

"Work will continue to open the other two points," army spokesman Lt. Col. V. K. Batra said in Srinigar in India's portion of Kashmir.

Pakistani officials said they had not been contacted about a change of plans, and that they still were prepared to open all five crossings.

"As far as we are concerned, we are prepared to open all five," Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

Kashmir was split between India and Pakistan after the bloody partition of the subcontinent following independence from Britain in 1947. Both countries claim all of Kashmir in a dispute that has sparked two wars and kept families separated for more than half a century.

In Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, police said there has been a stream of applicants for permits needed to cross the border.

"The Indian side has prepared a list of people who want to come over to the Pakistan side," Muzaffarabad deputy police chief Ata Ullah said Saturday. "We are now preparing a list of our people who want to go to the other side."

Some snow already has fallen high in the mountains of the quake-devastated region, at elevations of about 10,000 feet.

But on Saturday, Pakistan's Meteorological Department forecast snow over the coming few days at lower elevations of about 5,000 feet. That would hit upper reaches of regional hubs such as Balakot in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, where thousands remain without shelter.

Many quake survivors already have trekked down from remote mountain settlements to centers like Balakot to escape the frigid weather.

In the highest mountain hamlets, temperatures were expected to dip to -10 Fahrenheit, the department said.

"Hypothermia is very definitely a health risk," World Health Organization spokeswoman Sacha Bootsma said. "It's a main concern."

The quake left more than three million people homeless, a particular concern with the fierce Himalayan winter approaching. Hundreds of thousands still lack shelter, the United Nations said.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Friday postponed a major purchase of 77 F-16 fighter jets from the United States, saying his country must focus its resources on rebuilding from the quake.

He also appealed to the world to be as generous with quake survivors as they were for Asia's tsunami last December and the U.S. Hurricane Katrina disaster in August.

Pakistani Finance Ministry official Ashfaq Hassan Khan said the world has pledged US$1.93 billion in aid over the long term, but the country has said it needs US$5 billion.

By comparison, a total of US$13.5 billion was pledged for tsunami victims.