A city-based NGO's study that 44 homeless have died due to cold in the past six days in the national capital led Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to blame Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal here on Monday for the deaths.
Kejriwal said the Lt. Governor did not consult the government before appointing the CEO of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), which looks after night-shelters for the homeless in the city.
Kejriwal tweeted on Monday: "Media reporting 44 deaths of homeless due to cold. Am issuing show-cause notice to CEO, DUSIB. Negligible deaths last year. This year, LG appointed a useless officer. LG refuses to consult us before appointing officers. How do we run govt like this?"
Meanwhile, DUSIB CEO Shurbir Singh rubbished the media reports on the deaths and said that "DUSIB has no reported case of death due to cold in the city".
Different from Kejriwal's statement, AAP leader Atishi Marlena said she was "surprised as the number of deaths is consistent across all months".
"Surprised at story being run by several channels on cold wave deaths. If the number of deaths of homeless/ unidentified persons is consistent across all 12 months, how can they be attributed to the cold wave?" the leader tweeted.
Sunil Kumar Aledia of the Centre for Holistic Development (CHD), which conducted the study, said that they arrived at the number by collecting data from Zonal Integrated Police Network, Ministry of Home Affairs.
--IANS
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