West Bengal on alert as dead bodies float down Ganga from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar

Apprehending that the dead bodies floating in the River Ganga in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar may get into West Bengal through the Malda district, the State administration has made elaborate arrangements for collecting these bodies with adequate safety measures and properly performing their last rights after testing them for Covid-19.

Sources in the State administration said that keeping in mind the pandemic situation, in case the bodies float into the State through neighbouring Jharkhand, the district administration in Malda has been alerted as it is through its Manickchak area that the Ganges enters Bengal. Apart from Manikchak, district officials along with police in Kalichak II and III blocks have been instructed to constantly monitor the situation.

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The entire operation is being supervised by the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, Health Department officials and will be conducted by specially trained personnel.

Apart from State officials and police personnel, local boatmen who have been given required training along with PPE kits, have been pressed into service. They are keeping vigil on the river in the Gadai char (tract of land surrounded by the river) on the lookout for the bodies.

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State administration sources said that they are in constant touch with the intelligence agencies of the Centre and the State Government to have updated information about the location of the bodies.

District officials said that unlike the rest of Manikchak, the Ganges is far less wide at the Gadai char and hence it would be easier to keep vigil for the bodies in case they float in. Apart from the local boats, speed boats of the State’s Disaster Management Force will also be used. “The boatmen have been instructed to pick up the bodies from the river in case they float in maintaining all Covid-19 protocol,” said a district official.

If any such bodies are found in the river, they will be tested for Covid-19 following which their last rights will be performed.

The second line of arrangement to collect the bodies, in case they float in, has been made at some distance from the Farakka barrage further downstream. “We are yet to find any such bodies floating in through the Ganges. All safety measures have been taken,” said a senior district police official.