On October 8th 2005, a massive 7.6 earthquake shook northern Pakistan devastating extensive areas of Azad Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province. The earthquake left 80,000 dead, 1,28,304 severely injured and rendered three million people homeless forcing them to face the Himalayan Winter in temporary shelters and tents. Nearly 600,000 houses were destroyed and thousands of educational and health facilities were damaged. The district of Mansehra was extensively damaged by the disastrous earthquake. Being the closest to the epicentre, within 100 km radius, the hardest hit of all the areas was the fateful Old Balakot Town. Around 90% of all the structures were damaged and roads were blocked due to landslides bringing the life in the town to a stop. After the process of rescue and relief, measures were adopted for rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. A new town was proposed to be developed for the affectees of Old Balakot, under the strategic aims and overarching principles of ERRA.

As the Exhibit shows, the proposed location of the New Balakot Town is at a distance of only 15 km from the city of Mansehra. Moreover, as it is located at only 20 km from the old site, there will not be any major cultural shift in the milieu. Two existing linkages connect the site to existing regional roads; one link is from the site to Karakoram Highway towards the west, it is a jeep track. The second link is an existing road, with steep slopes, towards the east linking site to the MNJ Road.

This prime location of the project owes to having dual opportunity options with KKH an international trade route on the western side at only a distance of 4 km; and MNJ Road  the tourism gate way route leading towards the beautiful valleys of Naran, Kaghan and Jalkhad at only one kilometre distance on the eastern side. It provides the opportunity to exploit the potentials of both the arteries in terms of economic benefits through tourism and trade activities.