2,000KG RED BRICKS CLEARED FROM ROADS IN SINGLE LOCALITY

nNEWDELHI: The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), on Thursday, began cleaning the main roads of riot-hit areas, including Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar, Jaffrabad and Khajoori Khas, picking up truckloads of stones, brick pieces and interlocking pavement tiles that were pulled out by mobs to attack each other.

“At least 2,000kg of eenta (red brick pieces) was carted away from Kardampuri alone. Bricks were strewn on roads and sacks of it were kept in lanes, ready to be used,” a senior EDMC official said.

Burnt pieces of clothing, furniture and tyres were also taken away, besides remnants of Molotov cocktails and shards of glass from broken windows that lined the roads, the official said.

“Charred cars and motorbikes are yet to be removed as the police will videograph them for evidence. The owners might want to identify their vehicles to claim insurance. It’s difficult to identify vehicles once they have been burnt to the shell; the only way to identify them is the chassis plate, that too if it hasn’t melted. So, it’s important to keep them in their original place,” said Ranen Kumar, deputy commissioner, Shahdara (North) zone, EDMC.

The task was undertaken after requests to this effect were made before the EDMC on Thursday by Shahdara and Northeast Delhi district magistrates (DM) Sanjiv Kumar and Shashi Kaushal, besides deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Anjitha Chepyala, civic body officials said.

Parts of northeast Delhi, which have been severely affected by communal riots, come under the east civic body’s Shahdara (North) zone. “Out of our total 34 municipal wards, at least 15, such as Mustafabad, Seelampur, Brahmpuri, Maujpur and Karawal Nagar, are badly hit,” EDMC senior engineer and spokesperson Arun Kumar said.

“Since Monday, our cleaning staff has only being able to work at night with adequate cover from local police and CRPF personnel. It was only today (Thursday) that they stepped out in the day for work,” he said.