Bam: After the Earthquake - 1x14’ - English
November 2004

What is the situation in Bam, Iran, a year after the earthquake that razed the city to the ground? At the time of the earthquake, Bam was a city of 120,000 inhabitants. The Iranian government estimated the toll of deaths at 30,000, and some 80,000 were left without shelter.

Today, the population of Bam is the equivalent of before the 2003 disaster, because approximately 30,000 people, not affected by the earthquake, have flocked to Bam in the hope of benefiting from the aid brought to the survivors. The cohabitation with the real survivors is proving to be difficult.

Eleven months after the earthquake, reconstruction has barely started and only several hundred houses are under construction, when according to the NGOs some 25,000 are needed and according to the Iranian government 50,000. The NGOs question the slowness and the authoritarianism of the government, whereas the survivors of Bam talk of the disorganisation and corruption of the authorities. The government is to undertake 80% of the reconstruction and the NGOs the remaining 20%. According to experts, it will take between 5 to 25 years to reconstruct Bam.