THE riots didn’t claim him, but the compensation did. In 10 minutes of receiving the compensation cheque from the State Government, 58-year-old Babulal Abdul Hamid had collapsed.
Babulal, who had fled from his house in Shahibaug and was living in the relief camp in the area, owned three houses and a kerosene shop. In his FIR, he mentioned a total loss of about Rs 8 lakh. But when he got his cheque from the State on April 25, he was in for a rude shock — all he got was a cheque for Rs 2,000.
The shock was unbearable. Babulal suffered a fatal heart attack. ‘‘He had high hopes even when everything was lost. My mother used to warn him but he kept telling us that everything would be all right. However, when he saw the cheque of Rs 2,000, he went into deep shock. Especially when he heard Collectorate officials say ‘Jo milna tha mil gaya, ab kuch nahi milega.’ He died in minutes,’’ says Madina Banu, his daughter. Babulal is not the only one who received paltry amounts of compensation for losses worth lakhs. The riot victims now don’t know what to do.
‘‘In my FIR, I gave an estimated loss of Rs 80,000. My house in Modi ni Chali in Madhavpura has been completely destroyed. It is half-burnt; the walls, windows and doors badly damaged,’’ says Shabirbhai Bashirbhai Vanghara. After that, he sadly displays the cheque of Rs 200 he’s received. ‘‘This is all they have given me. With my family of seven, my monthly expense on food alone is much more than this. What I am supposed to do with this money?’’ he asks, tears in his eyes.
Mohammad Ibrahim, a daily wager who lived in a chawl in Gomptipur, has also received a cheque of Rs 300. ‘‘Rs 300 for what? Our chawl had been burnt in the initial days of the riots. As my house was on the second floor, it was not damaged much but even then, repairs will cost about Rs 7,000. And, all I get is Rs 300,’’ says an agitated Mohammad.
‘‘There hardly anyone who has received a check over Rs 10,000 while there are plenty who have received Rs 200 to Rs 500 as compensation. How will such a small amount help? It is not even enough to buy our monthly ration,’’ says Mohammad Jamalbhai Hanif, whose house is MehdiKuva is completely burnt. Hanif has received a cheque of Rs 500.
The assessment of damaged houses is being done by survey teams of the Collectorate. These teams include an engineer, deputy engineer, the talati, representative of the locality and in a few cases also the representative of some NGOs.
The survey teams study the damage caused to the house in general and also to walls, roof, door and windows individually. ‘‘Apart from that, we also have separate quality checking teams, which randomly recheck the assessment,’’ says District Collector K Srinivas, District Collector.
However, what the victims are going through belies any claims that justice has been done. Mehrazbiwi Abdulmiya owns three ‘kholis’ opposite Bawa Bartulla Dargha at Shahibaug. Though her house was not completely destroyed, it was ransacked and doors and windows completely damaged.
‘‘I must have incurred a loss of at least Rs 1 lakh. However, the officials told me that I will not be getting a single penny. Can you imagine that? Not a single penny even though my house has been badly damaged,’’ she adds.
When this was brought to the Collector’s notice, he refused to comment. ‘‘I will have to verify before saying anything as I am unaware about any such complaints,’’ Srinivas says.