No policy,German Bakery may not get damages

Even the district administration is not too hopeful of getting any favourable reply to the proposal. Senior district officials said on condition of anonymity that they had only forwarded the proposal received from the civic body. “They (government officials) are not keen on it. It is an unfortunate incident,but the owners cannot be compensated,” one of them said.

The government officials,on their part,are clear that they have not compensated the establishments that came under siege during the 26/11 terror attack and they cannot make an exception for German Bakery owners. Ramesh Kumar said Leopold Café and other joints had suffered damage during the Mumbai terror attacks and they had not compensated them. “Such cases never come to the government. The German Bakery proposal will be the first,but we cannot make such exceptions.”

The district administration,which has completed the disbursal of compensation to blast victims,had done a property damage assessment of the German Bakery. The administration had demanded assessment reports from both the civic body and Public Works Department (PWD). It was three weeks after the blast that they got the report.

The Kharoses who own the German Bakery had submitted memorandums to the Mayor and Collector,seeking Rs 25-30 lakh as compensation. They had no accidental insurance cover as the bakery ownership was under litigation.