79 houses, 327 shops gutted in arson during Delhi violence: Sisodia

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said 79 houses and 327 shops were completely gutted in arson during the communal violence in northeast Delhi last week.

According to police, 41 bodies have been recovered so far, Sisodia said at a press conference.

The government said till now a total of Rs 38.75 lakh has been given out as compensation to the riot victims. While the families of those killed in the violence have been given Rs 22 lakh as ex gratia, the injured have been provided financial assistance of Rs 9 lakh while total Rs 7.75 lakh has been provided so far to those whose houses and belongings were damaged.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 riot-affected people have moved into the Delhi government's relief camp at Mustafabad in the last 24 hours from areas like Shivpuri, Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar, the government said in a statement.

It said the camp has been provided with doctors, medicines, food, toilets, clothing and other essential facilities. Help desks have been set up at the camp for filing compensation forms. The government is also working to set up special help desks to prepare fresh documents and ID cards for the families who have lost their possessions.

Citing figures available till Monday evening, Sisodia said besides the 79 completely burnt houses and 327 fully gutted shops, 168 houses suffered substantial and 40 houses minor damage due to arson.

"Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and ministers of Delhi government are on the ground," Sisodia said.

"Those whose documents have been burnt should approach SDM offices as soon as possible. Students who have lost their study material in arson will be helped," the Deputy CM said.

Besides Sisodia, other Delhi Cabinet ministers including Rajendra Pal Gautam, Kailash Gehlot and Imran Hussain took stock of the relief operations on the ground.

The ministers also met the SDMs, DMs, DCs and other administration officials and directed them to ensure that the relief claims are settled in due time.

"The situation is grim, but I also noticed that the residents displayed a lot of unity amongst themselves, and came out in support of each other during these difficult times," Sisodia said after his visit.

He said 18 SDMs and four night magistrates were on duty to assess the loss incurred in the violence as well as to coordinate the relief and rehabilitation works in the affected areas.

"Till yesterday evening, 79 totally burnt houses, 168 substantially burnt houses, 40 minor burnt houses, 327 burnt shops, and 41 dead bodies as per police reports found. And 422 people were injured, Sisodia said.

If the houses in the affected areas are locked, officials are trying to contact the occupants through their neighbours so that their names and details are included in the SDM reports, he added.