An IOM-led shelter survey in Punjab indicates that around 85 per
cent of those displaced by Pakistan's worst floods on record have
returned home to retrieve what is left of their possessions and to
start rebuilding. More are returning every day.

Punjab, which is Pakistan's breadbasket, was among the regions
hardest hit by the floods which inundated the Indus Valley in
August and September. According to government figures, the water
damaged or destroyed around half a million homes in the
province.

The survey, which was conducted between September 26 and
September 29 by IOM and partner agencies in the Emergency Shelter
Cluster, focused on a sample of 755 flood victims to determine the
number of returnees and the materials they needed to rebuild.

Survey responses indicated that 70 per cent of the families who
are still displaced are planning to return home soon.

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But around 1 per cent (6,000 - 6300 families) of all families
affected by flooding in Punjab said that they will not be able to
return for at least six months, either because their houses are
totally destroyed or will need more time to repair, or because they
have no jobs and no money for reconstruction.

Some 30 per cent of respondents said their home experienced some
flooding every one to three years. These were typically small-scale
farmers living close to the Indus River and growing their crops on
the fertile flood plain, which is submerged by the river during the
wet season. When the river rises, these families shift their
settlements away from the river and return when the river shrinks
back to its original size during the dry season.

"The survey supports the Shelter Cluster's strategy for early
recovery which offers different shelter assistance, depending on
whether flood victims are able to return and rebuild their homes,
whether they suffer extended displacement or whether they are
seasonal flood migrants," says IOM Pakistan Emergency Response
Manager Brian Kelly.

The strategy, which helps those who can return to their land to
build a one-room shelter with salvaged and new, locally sourced
materials, is currently being tested through an IOM pilot project
in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) provinces. For people
who cannot return immediately, it offers a transitional shelter,
usually using a bamboo or timber frame and plastic sheeting for
roofing and walls.

Asked what construction materials they needed most, 80 per cent
of those already back in their places of origin said that they
needed roof beams, 56 per cent doors and windows, 19 per cent tools
and 18 per cent mud bricks. Many people also have asked for fired
bricks and cement.

Some 46 per cent of people who already started reconstruction or
repairs have been using traditional mud materials, while 44 per
cent were using fired bricks or concrete.

A similar survey is under way in Sindh – the country's
worst affected province – where more than one million houses
have been damaged or destroyed.

Aid agencies participating in the IOM-led Emergency Shelter
Cluster have now reached a total of 471,858 families – or
around 3.3 million people – with emergency shelter
country-wide. But this covers only 25 per cent of the estimated
need. Around 8.4 million people have yet to receive emergency
shelter.

For more information on IOM's activities in Pakistan, to
download the IOM Appeal or to donate to IOM's flood response,
please go to: "/jahia/Jahia/pakistan" target="" title=
"">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/pakistan.

For information on the Emergency Shelter Cluster, please go to:
"https://sites.google.com/site/shelterpak2010/" target="_blank"
title="">https://sites.google.com/site/shelterpak2010/.

For more information please contact:

Saleem Rehmat

IOM Islamabad

Tel: +92.300 856 0341

E-mail: "mailto:srehmat@iom.int">srehmat@iom.int

or

Eliane Engeler

Tel: +92.300 852 6357

E-mail: "mailto:engeler.iom@gmail.com">engeler.iom@gmail.com