Riots didn’t kill him, relief did

As others in his family despaired, he comforted them, telling them everything would be all right. But then on April 25, he got his cheque from the state. He was in for a rude shock — all the government deemed him fit for was Rs 2,000.

Babulal suffered a fatal heart attack. ‘‘He had high hopes even when everything was lost,’’ says his daughter Madina Banu. ‘‘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.’’

Babulal is not the only one who received paltry amounts of compensation for losses worth lakhs. Shabirbhai Bashirbhai Vanghara was in for an equal shock. ‘‘In my FIR, I gave an estimated loss of Rs 80,000. My house in Modi ni Chali in Madhavpura has been completely destroyed,’’ says Shabirbhai. And then he displays the cheque he got: of Rs 200.

The assessment of damaged houses is being done by survey teams of the Collectorate. ‘‘Besides, we also have separate teams, which randomly recheck the assessment,’’ says District Collector K. Srinivas.