On a street in Khajoori Khas near Chandu Nagar, riot victims and residents of the area surrounded a government official who had come on Tuesday afternoon. “Sir, there is no electricity, how will anyone live here?” asked one man as others nodded in agreement.
As acrid smell of smoke emanated from the gutted houses, Sub Divisional Magistrate Gaurav Yadav, who has been deployed here from Kanjhawala, made a call: “I want electricity in the area by the end of the day and I need the report on this within two hours”.
When some residents claimed that the security personnel deployed in the area had misbehaved with the locals, the official glanced towards the uniformed men and said: “No one will abuse or misbehave with people here. If I get to know that anyone has...”
A local then shared how the water supply is shut.
Mr. Yadav was on the phone again and could be heard saying: “I need water tankers in this area to serve about 300 people by Wednesday evening”.
He, however, told the residents that regular water supply may take some time to resume.
After attempting to solve the water and electricity problem, he moved on and asked the locals if they had any other issues.
A man identified as Mehboob shared details of the violence that erupted on February 24-25 in the area and then mentioned the involvement of their neighbours. A man who was standing nearby felt offended and jumped to defend his community.
Diffusing the situation, Mr. Yadav told the group: “ Rehna to sabko sath main bhaichaare se hi hai na (Everyone has to live together after all)”.
Later in the evening, when Mr. Yadav was contacted over the phone, he said that all officials are working towards earliest rehabilitation of the violence-hit localities. “I did what I did on humanitarian grounds. Once you put yourself in their shoes, one will be able to understand,” he added.
