mordant wit

The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions. That is exactly what the Kashmiri victims of Saturday's earthquake seem to be experiencing after five days.

The massive relief effort coordinated in Pakistan - especially in the private sector - has choked the road network across Kashmir.

On the road to Bagh from Murree - the main artery linking the Bagh valley in the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to the rest of the country - dozens of ambulances carrying critically wounded people were stuck in what seemed to be interminable traffic jams.

The Pakistan army has set up a medical camp in the Bagh town - but it is desperately short on orthopaedic implants and related medical supplies which, say local doctors, have now emerged as the most urgent need.